Warriors: The end of the clans: Endless cough
by ifsmith
Summary: Echokit, Endlesskit, and Treekit think they are three normal warriors. They are proved wrong when they learn of a prophecy about them. Rated T because all warriors books should be anyway.
1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Endlesskit! Over here!" Echokit shouted. Her stomach was growling, but, like all kits, she had learned not to ask for food. "You'll have to come get it" Endlesskit teased, "not like you could!" "That's not very nice!" Echokit retorted as she ran over to get the mossball, battering it out of her brother's paws. "where's Treekit?" she asked, suddenly realizing that Treekit wasn't with them. "I don't know, but lately when he disappears he's over by the Fresh-kill pile, stealing food" Endlesskit replied, already starting to run over to the fresh-kill pile, where Echokit could already see that Morningflight, their mother, was scolding him. I can smell his fear-scent from here. she thought. "Treekit, you should know better! What makes you think you are any different than any other cat in Earthclan?" Morningflight yelled. "nothing." Treekit said. "Exactly. What is the rule about eating food?" Morningflight asked. "We only eat when Twilightstar tells us to." Treekit replied like he didn't care. "Good. Now go play with your littermates." Morningflight said dismissively. Treekit ran over to where Endlesskit and Echokit were waiting. "I hate that rule! Kits should be able to eat whatever they want" He yelled frustratedly. "Yes, they should, but with the shortage of food it's for the good of all cats that we have limited access to food." Endlesskit replied. "Will all cats above 3 moons gather by the Moonlit-Stone for a clan meeting!" Twilightstar yelled. "Let's go!" Endlesskit shouted.

Once all the cats were by the Moonlit-Stone, Twilightstar began. "It is time to name some new apprentices. Endlesskit and Echokit, step forward." Echokit and Endlesskit walked to right beneath the Moonlit-Stone. What about Treekit? "From this day forward, until they receive their warrior names, Echokit and Endlesskit shall be known as Echopaw and Endlesspaw. Ridgenose, you will be Echopaw's mentor. May you pass on your spirit and honesty to this apprentice. Stonedust, you will be Endlesspaw's mentor. May you pass on your determination and strength to this apprentice." Echopaw and Endlesspaw touched noses with their mentors. Out of the corner of her eye, Echopaw saw Treekit run away."Echopaw! Endlesspaw!" Their clanmates shouted. "Meeting, dismissed" Twilightstar said. Echopaw immediately ran to go see if she could find Treekit in the place he always went when he was upset; he called it the Thinking Stump.

Sure enough, Echopaw found Treekit at the Thinking Stump. "Treekit, it wasn't our choice. It was Twilightstar's." Echopaw said."I know, Echopaw, but I always dreamed about having our apprentice ceremony together." Treekit finished. "Um.. Treekit?" Echopaw asked. "Yes." Treekit said. "Do you know why Twilightstar did our apprentice ceremonies seprettally?" Echopaw asked. "I have an idea. I think it's because I get into trouble a lot." Treekit said, "But I'm sorry about it." "Treekit, do you think that if you went and talked to Twilightstar he would let you become an apprentice?" Echopaw asked. "No harm in trying!" Treekit almost shouted.

**I know it seems short. It is, but the later chapters are longer. **


	2. Chapter 2

"Twilightstar! Twilightstar!" Echopaw yelled. "Yes, Echopaw?" Twilightstar replied from behind the vines that hid his cave from view. "Can Treekit and I talk to you?" Echopaw asked. "Sure, come on in." Twilightstar said welcomingly. I can smell Treekit's fear-scent. Echopaw thought, as she and Treekit were getting comfortable. "So, what brings you guys here?" Twilightstar asked. "Uh.. Um.. We were Wo- Wo-." Treekit began, then started shaking uncontrollably. "Calm, Treekit. What were you wondering?" Twilightstar asked reassuringly. "I'm sorry for stealing food, running away, and accidentally hurting Greenkit." Treekit said resignedly. "Okay. Because of your honesty and courage, you will become my apprentice." Twilightstar said. Wow. Echopaw thought. "Now I just need to call a clan meeting." Twilightstar said.

"Let all cats older than 3 moons gather beneath the Moonlit-Stone for a clan meeting!" Twilightstar yowled. "We have one more apprentice to name today. Treekit, come forward." Treekit ran forward. "Treekit, as you should know, is Echopaw and Endlesspaw's littermate. I will become Treekit's mentor." Twilightstar said, leaping down from the Moonlit-Stone. "From this day forward, until he receives his warrior name, he will be known as Treepaw." Twilightstar finished, then touched noses with Treepaw. "Treepaw! Treepaw!" everybody started shouting. Echopaw ran to Endlesspaw, soon to be joined by Treepaw. "Wow, Treepaw! Twilightstar's your mentor!" Endlesspaw said, just as Ridgenose was walking over. "Want to go see the territory, Echopaw?" Ridgenose asked. "YES!" Echopaw shouted.

**I will upload two chapters today. This chapters short-ness is an all new low for me.**

**This book is already done, I'm just uploading it one chap. per day.**


	3. Chapter 3

"Treepaw, want to learn to hunt?" Twilightstar asked. "Sure!" Treepaw said. Having already seen the territory, Treepaw was itching to get out of camp. "Let's go then." Twilightstar said hurriedly.

It wasn't long before they made it to the Training Sands, the sandy part of Earthclan's mountain that apprentices were trained on. "K. Now, hunting is different then it is in the elder's stories. We have learned to hunt on our mountain. It is important to remember that the prey that lives on our mountain loves to hide in holes. Now, how do you think we could get them out?" Twilightstar said. "Um.. Hunt in partners and scare them out?" Treepaw guessed. "Hmm.. never tried that. What do you say we try now?" Twilightstar answered. "Okay." Treepaw said.

"See if you can sniff out a hole.I hope we find some actual prey." Before Twilightstar finished, Treepaw had already gone off sniffing for a hole.

"I found one!" Treepaw shouted. "Coming." Twilightstar said as he started walking over to the hole.

"Hmmm... does it smell like there's prey here?" Twilightstar asked. "Yes!" Treepaw answered excitedly. "Uh.. Go over there, Twilightstar. I'm going to try to scare it towards you." Treepaw said. Twilightstar immediately walked over to the rock that Treepaw was pointing to.

Once both cats were in position, Treepaw started jumping up and down by the hole, sending clouds of sand in. Eventually, a sand lizard scurried out, right in to Twilightstar's paws. With a swift bite to the neck, it was dead.

"Wow. That worked really well. Want to learn the way you do it with one cat?" Twilightstar asked.

"Sure, but I think I know how. You would just jump up and down by it until it came out, then, since you would be standing at the right angle, just trap it in your claw and kill it." Treepaw guessed.

"That's right. I would let you try it, but since it getting late we should go back to camp. Want to carry this lizard back?" Twilightstar said.

"Sure, but it's a bit small." Treepaw said disappointedly.

"It's probably just a baby." Twilightstar explained.

Once they got back to camp, it was dark. Treepaw started walking over to the fresh-kill pile. "No, Treepaw. You can eat it." Twilightstar said as he walked over to the fresh-kill pile and grabbed a crow, then walked over to beneath the Moonlit-Stone and sat down.

"Want to eat with me?" Twilightstar asked Treepaw. "Sure." Treepaw answered, then ran over to Twilightstar and settled down next to him with his prey.


	4. Chapter 4

"Endlesspaw, wake up!" Endlesspaw woke up to somebody prodding him in the side. "Sleepyhead!" Endlesspaw realized it was Treepaw. "Hey, that hurts!" Endlesspaw complained as he climbed out of his nest of sand. He then walked out of the den, and into the blinding sunlight.

He knew that apprentices were allowed to take a piece of prey from the fresh-kill pile in the morning, but he didn't want to miss his first morning meeting as an apprentice, and cats were already gathering for it.

"All cats above the age of 3 moons gather beneath the Moonlit-Stone for a clan meeting!" Twilightstar yowled.

Once all the cats were assembled, Twilightstar began the meeting. "Tallfrost, Windpaw, Sunheart, Wildpaw, Thunderleap, and Lichenpaw, hunting , Swiftpaw, Venomgaze, Birdpaw, Willowbreeze and Pebblepaw, take the Rainclan border. Stonedust, Endlesspaw, Ridgenose, Echopaw, Treepaw and I will take the the Cloudclan border. You may leave now." Twilightstar closed the meeting, and the cats started splitting up into their separate patrols.

Endlesspaw started walk over to where his patrol was gathering, but halfway through he was shaken by a huge coughing fit. Stonedust started to run over, but Morningflight was faster. "You okay, Endlesspaw?" she asked just as the coughing fit was over. I can't miss my first patrol! Endlesspaw thought, but it might be a good idea to have Ivymist check it out. "No." Endlesspaw said, just as he was shaken by another fit. "Come on, then, let's get you to Ivymist's den." Morningflight said.

Just as Endlesspaw was starting to walk over, the worst coughing fit of the bunch started. "Stonedust, go get Ivymist." Morningflight ordered.

**Cliffy! Not really...**


	5. Chapter 5

"Ivymist! Ivymist!" What now? Ivymist thought with a sigh. "Yes?" Ivymist answered the calls. "Endlesspaw is coughing and can't stop. Walking causes more coughing." Ivymist realized that Stonedust was worried. Well, I know I would be. "Okay, just a second." Ivymist said. Right. Let's try Feverfew first.

Once Ivymist had gotten the Feverfew out of her stores, she padded out of the den. "Hurry, this way!" Stonedust said just as he started running towards where Ivymist could already see Morningflight crouched next to Endlesspaw.

Once they got to where Morningflight was crouched next to Endlesspaw, Endlesspaw started coughing again. "Here, Endlesspaw. Eat this. It's bitter, but should help with your cough." Ivymist said as she was pushing it towards Endlesspaw, who, surprisingly, ate it.

"Can I rest in your den?" Endlesspaw uncharacteristically asked. Normally Endlesspaw would be eager to go out on the patrol, so he must have been feeling very sick. "Do you think you can make it that far?" Ivymist asked. "Yes." Endlesspaw said, only to be followed by another coughing fit. "Here, let Morningflight and I help you." Ivymist said, putting her tail on his back to help guide him to the Medicine cat's den. Morning flight instinctively did the same thing. "Stonedust, go get some moss. I need to get Endlesspaw some water." Ivymist ordered

Once Endlesspaw was settled in his nest with his water, the patrols started arriving. "Ivymist?" Endlesspaw asked. "Yes, Endlesspaw?" Ivymist answered with the same voice that Morningflight would have used. "Can you get Echopaw and Treepaw?" Endlesspaw asked, then, almost on cue, started coughing. "Sure, Endlesspaw. Do you want a piece of prey?" Ivymist answered. "Thanks. No, I don't think I could swallow it." He said, just as Ivymist was walking out of the den.

Once Ivymist had tracked down both Echopaw and Treepaw, she led them to the cliff that overlooked the clans gathering place, the Big Oak.

"This is about Endlesspaw, isn't it?" Treepaw asked. "Yep. I'm not sure what is wrong with him, but walking is a huge effort for him. Uh.. Oh yeah. He wanted you two to go see him." Ivymist said as she started to lead them back to camp.

Once they got back to camp, Ivymist could hear Endlesspaw coughing. She sprinted ahead of Echopaw and Treepaw so she could get to Endlesspaw. When she got there, she saw that Endlesspaw was coughing up blood. Once Echopaw and Treepaw got into the den, she heaved a sigh of relief. "Treepaw, got get Morningflight, Treefrost, and Stonedust. Echopaw, go get some wet moss. Endlesspaw, stay right there. Let the blood come up." Ivymist ordered as she started to rub Endlesspaw's back with her tail. Starclan, please don't take Endlesspaw. Ivymist thought in a silent prayer to Starclan.

Echopaw came back first with the wet moss. She pushed it over to Ivymist. "Will he be.. Okay?" Echopaw asked, obvious grief showing in her words. "I don't know, honestly. I've never seen anything like this before. Can you rub his back for me while I go see if I have any herbs that will help?" Ivymist asked. Echopaw didn't answer in words, she just walked over to Endlesspaw, who stopped coughing up blood. "Water." he said. Echopaw pushed the moss towards him.

Once Ivymist got to her stores, she realized that she had no herbs that would help, except for Coltsfoot, and that was it. She got the Coltsfoot.

Before she got out of the stores, she heard the pawsteps of four cats. "Endlesspaw!" She heard Treefrost screech. I should get some Chamomile to calm down these cats. Ivymist thought, grabbing the Chamomile and backing out of the stores. She gave the Chamomile to Morningflight, Echopaw, Treepaw, Treefrost, and Stonedust, who ate it willingly.

"Here, Endlesspaw, eat this. It should help you breathe." She said,turning towards the five cats gathered in her den,"As for you five, hurry up. It's getting late, and I want Endlesspaw to get some rest. "But I want to stay with Endlesspaw!" Echopaw complained. "No. Come back tomorrow." Ivymist ordered. The five cats left the den. Once they were gone, she curled up in her nest. "Wake me up if you need anything, Endlesspaw." She said as she drifted off.


	6. Chapter 6

"Echopaw, wake up!" Echopaw woke up to Treepaw prodding her in the side, like she had the day before. "The morning meeting is about to start!" Echopaw immediately got out of her nest and ran out to the Moonlit-Stone. Everybody was already there, except, she realized with a fresh stab of grief, Endlesspaw.

After the meeting, since Echopaw hadn't been assigned a patrol, she went to check on Endlesspaw. Treepaw followed her.

Once she got to the den she heard the coughing sound that she had gotten used to. "How is Endlesspaw?" She asked. "As far as I can tell, he is getting better. I almost sent him to the meeting, but he said that he didn't feel well enough to go. Once I got him into his nest, he started coughing again. I, to be completely honest, don't think he'll become a warrior." Ivymist answered. "But he HAS to become a warrior!" Echopaw complained. "Echopaw, if I can't become a warrior, I can still get a warrior name." Endlesspaw said. Echopaw couldn't take the confined sadness of the medicine cat den any longer. She ran out of it, passed the boulders that guarded their camp, and higher up the mountain, to a ledge where she could see almost all of the clan's territories. She could hear pawsteps, but all she could think about was Endlesspaw.

"Echopaw?" Echopaw realized that Twilightstar had followed her up there. "Yes?" She said. "It is true that Endlesspaw won't ever become a warrior. I am going to give him a warrior name tonight. Ivymist told me that he couldn't become a warrior because his chest is too tight and he can't get enough air to do anything much more than stand up." Twilightstar said as he settled down next to Echopaw. "His name should be Endlessheart." Echopaw said,"I assume you can guess why." "Yeah, that sounds good. Ready to go back?" Twilightstar said. "Well, I guess I am about as ready as I'll ever be" She answered, standing up. Together, she and Twilightstar walked back to camp.


	7. Chapter 7

"Will all cats older than 3 moons gather beneath the Moonlit-Stone for a clan meeting!" Endlesspaw heard Twilightstar yowl. "Come on, Endlesspaw. It's your warrior ceremony!" Ivymist said. Filled with the energy of excitement, Endlesspaw crawled out of the nest and started walking towards the entrance to the den and into the spot where he sat next to Echopaw and Treepaw, Ivymist soon joining them. "It is time to name a new warrior. Endlesspaw, step forward." Endlesspaw stepped forward like he wasn't sure his name was Endlesspaw. "Endlesspaw will never become a full warrior. In place of that, however, I have chosen to give him a warrior name. I, Twilightstar, leader of Earthclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon this apprentice. He has accepted the fact that he will never become a full warrior, and I commend him to you as a warrior in his turn. Endlesspaw, do you promise to uphold the warrior code to the best of your ability?" Twilightstar began the slightly modified traditional speech. "I do." Endlesspaw said with a certainty that seemed unreal. "Then by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior name. Endlesspaw, from this day forward you will be known as Endlessheart. Starclan honors your courage and endless heart, and we welcome you as a full warrior of Earthclan." Twilightstar finished. "Endlessheart! Endlessheart!" Endlessheart's clanmates yelled, Echopaw the loudest. "Wait!" Twilightstar yowled as the cats started to disperse. "I don't have another warrior to name, but there was something I wanted to mention. Echopaw came up with that name. I just thought it fit shockingly well. You may go, but I want Endlessheart, Echopaw, and Treepaw to come to my den." He finished, running up to his den. Fox-dung. I don't think I can make it up there. Endlessheart thought, but he tried anyway.

Once him and his littermates were gathered up in Twilightstar's den, Endlessheart was thrust into another coughing fit. Echopaw instinctively ran out to get Ivymist. When she returned, she gave some Coltsfoot to Endlessheart, who ate it. "Ouch. That hurt." Endlessheart said when he was done.

"Okay. I need to tell you something that you probably have realized already. Prey is running very, very low. I have been very un-strict compared to some leaders about the shortage of food." Twilightstar said.

"I think we know." Treepaw said, followed by one of Endlessheart's coughing fits, but this time in between breaths he was heaving. Cough-heave-cough-heave. "Echopaw, go get Ivymist." Twilightstar ordered.


	8. Chapter 8

"Ivymist! Endlessheart is heaving!" Ivymist heard Echopaw yell. "Coming!" Ivymist ran out of her den and up into Twilightstar's den.

Once she got up there, she could see that his eyes were watering. "Endlessheart, lay on your side. Treepaw, go get some wet moss. Twilightstar, I don't think that Endlessheart will be able to make it back to my den. Echopaw, go get some Coltsfoot and Yarrow." Ivymist ordered, as she started to massage his throat and stomach. "Try to let it come up, Endlessheart." Ivymist ordered Endlessheart. Treepaw and Echopaw arrived at the same time. "Echopaw, give the yarrow to Endlessheart, and set the coltsfoot over there. I want Twilightstar to have some, since Endlessheart won't be able to make it back to my den. Treepaw, just set down the moss. Endlessheart, eat that yarrow." Ivymist ordered. Endlessheart ate the yarrow, then started to vomit.

Once Endlessheart was done vomiting, Ivymist pushed the water towards him. "Here, drink this water, Endlessheart. Treepaw, go get some poppy seed." Ivymist ordered. "Umm... am I going to sleep here?" Endlessheart asked. "Yes. I don't think you'll make it down, so you are going to sleep here." Ivymist said,"Echopaw, can you go get some bedding?""yep." Echopaw said. "So, welcome to my den then, Endlessheart." Twilightstar said.

Once Treepaw and Echopaw returned, Endlessheart had already fallen asleep, so they just set their stuff down outside the entrance to the den.


	9. Chapter 9

After a few moments of peace, Echopaw heard a screech. "Help! My chest hurts!" A cat yowled. Echopaw's stomach flipped. "That's Ridgenose!" She yelled. Ivymist ran out, Echopaw and Twilightstar hard on her paws.  
Once they got to Ridgenose, Ivymist froze. Ridgenose was breathing in huge, heaving, sputtering breaths. "Can't you do anything?" Echopaw asked. "No. I'm sorry, Echopaw." Ivymist answered, and in one, heaving long last breath, Ridgenose died. "RIDGENOSE!" Echopaw screeched, digging her nose into her mentor's fur. "Echopaw." Treepaw murmured, rubbing her tail on Echopaw's back. "I'm going to go get the poppy seed that was supposed to be for Endlessheart." Twilightstar declared.  
"Some chamomile would be good, too." Ivymist said as she too went off to get some herb.  
Once both cats were back they told Echopaw to eat it, and, since she was already pretty tired from the day's events, she fell asleep almost immediately.

**That is so short it's sad. Don't worry, though. I already finished this, and the chapters DO get longer.**


	10. Chapter 10

"Do you want to sleep here with Echopaw, Treepaw?" Twilightstar asked. "Yes. Who will become her mentor, now that Ridgenose is dead?" Treepaw answered. "I will. Stonedust just doesn't seem like the right mentor for Echopaw." Twilightstar answered,"Would you like to eat with me again, Treepaw?""Sure."Treepaw answered.

Twilightstar went off to get some prey. When he came back, there was a fat crow in his jaws. "Idiot had just eaten a mouse and couldn't run away." Twilightstar explained as he settled down next to Treepaw to eat the piece of prey.

"I'm going to go back to my den now, okay?" Twilightstar said as he stood up to stretch his muscles. "Okay. Bye!" Treepaw said, falling asleep next to Echopaw.

"Echopaw, wake up!" Treepaw yelled playfully as she prodded at his sister's side. "Okay, okay. I'm up now." Echopaw said.

"The meeting is about to start!" Treepaw said exasperatedly. Both Echopaw and him padded over to the spot where they sat for the morning meetings.

"Cats of Earthclan," Twilightstar began, "as some of you may know, there was a sad event yesterday. Ridgenose is dead." He said, pausing to let the shock sink in. "As all of you should know, Ridgenose was Echopaw's mentor. I will be the mentor to take her place." He said, continuing on with the normal meeting.

Once the meeting was over, Treepaw walked over to where he met with Twilightstar for training. Echopaw padded less enthusiastically behind him, letting her tail drag. I wonder what it's like to lose a mentor. Treepaw thought.

"Cheer up, Echopaw." Treepaw said in a vain attempt to raise his sister's spirits, "You get to train with me!" but his sister's expression didn't improve. "I don't want to." Echopaw said with a sadness that pierced Treepaw.

"Treepaw, if Echopaw wants to be sad, you should let her. It's too early to try to cheer her up." Twilightstar said as they reached the training sands.

"Who can think of a good way to use Earthclan's territory to our advantage in battle?" Twilightstar asked. Surprisingly, Echopaw was the first to answer,"Push the sand into their eyes?" she guessed. "Yep. It's a bit unsafe to do in training, but at least I can teach you how to push up the sand so it gets in your opponent's eyes, not your eyes." Twilightstar said as he walked out into the middle of the sand. "Watch closely." he said.

He turned sideways, turned his head away, and used his tail to kick up a cloud of sand that would have easily blinded any cat. "Not a hard move," He said as the sand began to settle back down "but it is important to kick up a big cloud of sand by hitting your tail hard enough and at the right angle. Who wants to try fir-" He paused as he realized that Echopaw had turned away and was drawing shapes in the sand with her tail. With a gasp of astonishment, he realized that she had drawn Ridgenose.

"Echopaw, that's detailed." Was all Twilightstar could manage to get out. "Ridgenose taught me how to do it." Echopaw replied. "Umm... can we get back to training?" Treepaw asked with a hint of annoyance.

"Yep. Who wants to go first?" Twilightstar asked. "I will" Echopaw said as she padded out to next to where Twilightstar was. "Okay, go." Treepaw said,"What are you waiting for?" and with that, Echopaw turned around and did the move on Treepaw. "That's what you deserve!" She yelled as she did it again.

"ECHOPAW! STOP THAT!" Twilightstar yelled against the chaos, "You know better!" and then Echopaw stopped, pelt heaving. Then, against anything any cat could have predicted, she started coughing up sand. All Treepaw and Twilightstar did was just stand there. "I'm okay."She said when she was done coughing,"Just swallowed up some sand. And Treepaw, sorry. I'm not sure what happened."

"It's okay. I'm guessing I'll have to go see Ivymist, though." Treepaw replied with a sigh. "That was really powerful, Echopaw. That was much better than I would have expected." Twilightstar said,"But let's try to get back to a normal training session now."

"Yeah, that's a good idea." Echopaw said, then gasped, "What happened to my Ridgenose!" Echopaw then ran over to where she had drawn Ridgenose, hurriedly trying to fix it, then wailed like a lost kit.

"Echopaw, let's go back to camp." Twilightstar began,"We've had enough excitement for one day." He finished as he started to walk back towards camp. "No. I have to fix my Ridgenose." Echopaw said.

"Fine, but hurry up with it." Twilightstar said with a hint of exasperation is his voice.

Once they were all back at camp, Treepaw went to go check on Endlessheart, who had gone back to Ivymist's den earlier in the day.

"Hi, Endlessheart." He said when he walked in to Ivymist's den. "Hi." Endlessheart said.

"Where's Ivymist?" Treepaw asked. "She went to go get some herbs, she said her supplies were running low." Endlessheart said. "Well, I need her to check my eyes. Echopaw lost control of herself while we were practicing the sand move, and she kicked up a bunch into my eyes." Treepaw explained.

"Oh. I know what you need. You need some celandine." He said as he got up and walked over to the stores, and came back with some leaves.

"How do you know this will help?" Treepaw asked. "Ivymist figures I should make myself useful by learning the names of all the herbs and what they do. Eat these." He said, pushing the celandine towards Treepaw.

Treepaw, despite her doubts that this would actually help, ate the herbs. "Now once Ivymist gets back, you should have her check your eyes." Endlessheart said, followed by a coughing fit.

"You okay?" Ivymist said as she suddenly appeared at the entrance to the den,"And what are you doing out of your nest?"

"I gave some celandine to Treepaw because she had gotten some sand in her eyes." Endlessheart explained,"And I think you should look at it."

"Okay. Treepaw, come over here." Ivymist ordered.

**See, see?! It's longerr!**


	11. Chapter 11

"Treepaw, your eyes are red. Stand here while I go get some celandine." Ivymist said as she walked over to her pile of herbs and picked out the celandine leaves. "Eat." She ordered Treepaw. Treepaw ate the leaves without questioning, then started coughing so hard he fell. Oh great. Ivymist thought, I don't want another cat like Endlessheart.

Ivymist then felt Treepaw's head. "Well, you have a fever. Lay down in that nest next to Endlessheart's." she said as she walked over to her stores. "Endlessheart, what herb should I use?" she asked.

"Feverfew. It will help with both the cough and the fever." Endlessheart answered. "Very good. Now, which of these plants is feverfew?" Ivymist asked. "That one." Endlessheart said, pointing to a plant with a white flower and yellow center, with his tail.

"Good. Now Treepaw, eat this." she said, pushing the herb towards Treepaw, who gobbled up the herb. "Good. Now, both of you can rest now." Ivymist said as she started to sort her herb supply.

When she was done, she curled up in her nest and watched Endlessheart and Treepaw sleep. I just hope they realize their destiny. she thought with a sigh.

**...**


	12. Chapter 12

Endlessheart woke up in a strange clearing. He could hear the pawsteps of a lot of cats, who soon appeared in the clearing. Endlessheart realized it was only one cat.

"It's okay, little one." The cat said. "I am Jaybelly. This is Starclan. No, you aren't dead. Come, I have something to show you." Jaybelly started to walk out of the clearing. Endlessheart followed him.

Jaybelly lead Endlessheart to a stream that seemed like it had stars flowing through it.

"Look." Jaybelly said. Endlessheart looked, and suddenly the stream turned to a stream of blood. "Three cats, led by an echoing breeze, will save the mountain from destruction." and erie voice said.

Endlessheart woke up, shaking. What does that mean? He thought. Then Endlessheart started coughing, which woke up both Ivymist and Treepaw.

"You okay?" Ivymist asked. "Yep." Endlessheart answered. "Will all cats above the age of 3 moons gather beneath the Moonlit-Stone for a clan meeting!" Endlessheart heard Twilightstar yowl. "Come on, both of you are going to this meeting" Ivymist said.

Once all the cats were gathered, Twilightstar began. "It is time to name two new apprentices. Whitekit and Greenkit, step forward." Whitekit and Greenkit stepped forward. "Greenkit has chosen to become a medicine cat, and in accordance with the warrior code, I cannot make him an apprentice. Greenkit, go back with Ivymist. You will be going with her once this meeting ends." Greenkit ran back to Ivymist. "From this day forward, until he has earned his warrior name, this apprentice will be known as Whitepaw. Jumpingmoon, you will become his mentor. May you pass on your independence and loyalty to this apprentice." Twilightstar finished, and Jumpingmoon and Whitepaw touched noses. "Whitepaw! Whitepaw!" The clanmates yelled.

Once the meeting was over, Ivymist, Endlessheart, Treepaw, and Greenkit went back to Ivymist's den. "Endlessheart, do you want to become a medicine cat apprentice, too?" Ivymist asked once they got back to the den,"You'll have to decide quickly, though. Greenpaw and I are going to eat our traveling herbs now, than leave to go to the Moon-Cave"

I want to. It's fun to be able to help my clanmates. "Yep." Endlessheart said. "Then go tell Twilightstar, when you come back the traveling herbs should be ready." Ivymist said, then Endlessheart had a coughing fit, "And I'll be putting feverfew in your pile." Ivymist added as Endlessheart walked out of the den.

"Twilightstar!" Endlessheart yelled through the vines that guarded his den. "Yes, Endlessheart?" Twilightstar answered, sticking his head through the vines. "I'm going to become Ivymist's apprentice, too!" He said, then started bouncing like an over-excited kit. "Cool. Have fun, then!" he yelled as Endlessheart was running back to Ivymist's den.

Once he got there, however, he started coughing up blood. I hope i can still go to the Moon-Cave with them. he thought over a cough of blood.

"Do you still want to go with us?" Ivymist asked when he was done coughing. "Yep." He said, though this time he wasn't as sure. "What's wrong with him?" Greenkit asked. Endlessheart was the first to answer. "Ivymist thinks that my lungs are too tight to get enough air into them, but I think that i have some kind of infection in there. Or else I just cough up blood because my body is trying to open them up, but it's failing."

"Well, Actually, Your lungs are being rubbed raw by all this coughing, so they bleed, which causes you to cough up more blood." Ivymist re-explained what Endlessheart had said,"But both of you should really be focused on eating you traveling herbs." after she said that, both of them ate their travelling herbs.

"Ready to go?" Ivymist asked. "Yep!" Both Greenkit and Endlessheart yelled with excitement. "Then let's go!" Ivymist said, leading them out of the den.

On the way to the Moon-Cave, they walked down a slanted path that brought them to the Big Oak. There were five paths jutting out from the clearing with the Big Oak, but the fifth was hidden behind the Gig Oak, and it led to the Moon-Cave. They walked down through the tunnel that led to the cave. In the cave, there was a stream that the mountain clans called Moon-Stream, that ended in a stream at the bottom that the cats called Moon-Pond. There was also a whole at the top that let in light, and at Moon-High the moon shined right through onto the water.

"Welcome to the Moon-Pond!" Ivymist said excitedly. "Wow. This is amazing!" Greenkit yelled. "Okay, guys stand right there." Ivymist ordered, pointing to a spot on the wall with her tail. "Greenkit, come forward." Ivymist ordered. Greenkit did just that, walk forward. "Greenkit, is it your wish to enter the mysteries of starclan as a medicine cat?" Ivymist began the seasons-old speech. "It is." Greenkit said, shaking just a little. "Then come forward. Warriors of Starclan, I present to you this apprentice. He has chosen the life as a medicine cat. Grant him your wisdom and insight so that he may understand your ways and heal his clan in accordance with your will. From this day forward, until he becomes a full medicine cat, he will be known as Greenpaw. Endlessheart, is it your wish to enter the mysteries of Starclan as a medicine cat?" Ivymist asked. "It is." Endlessheart answered with more certainty then Greenpaw. "Then come forward. Warriors of Starclan, I present to you my second apprentice. He was unable to follow the path of a warrior. He has chosen the path of a medicine cat so he can continue to serve his clan. Grant him your wisdom and insight so he may understand your ways and heal his clan in accordance with your will. Endlessheart and Greenpaw, touch your noses to the Moon-Pond.

Both Endlessheart and Greenpaw touched noses to the Moon-Pond, followed by Ivymist.

"Welcome to Starclan as a medicine cat, Endlessheart." Endlessheart heard a cat say. "I'm Firestorm."

"So, what are we going to do?" Endlessheart asked. "I have something I want to show you." Firestorm said, already walking off. Endlessheart followed him. Eventually, they made it to a camp that Endlessheart could tell belonged to cats. "This is Rainclan's camp." Firestorm explained, leading him to one of the dens.

"This is the nursery." He explained. A kit started coughing up a river of blood, and it's mother screeched. "That's Riverkit." Firestorm said. Then the kit took a sputtering breath. "He died." Firestorm said, greif thick in his voice. "What are you going to do?" Endlessheart asked, cautiously. "Riverkit is my sister." He said,"Well, my much, much younger sister.

Than a small, kit-like cat appeared. "Welcome to Starclan, Riverkit." Firestorm said, pulling the kit in close to his body. "Who are you?" Riverkit asked. "I'm Firestorm. You died, and now i'm going to take care of you." Firestorm explained to the scared kit. "Watch, Riverkit. Remember that you get a warrior name if you're a kit that dies." Firestorm explained, pointing towards the camp. "Cats of Rainclan! Gather beneath the Reed-Pile for a clan meeting!" A cat yowled, shifting the watching cat's view to the Reed-Pile. "A young cat has died." The cat, clearly the leader of Rainclan, began. "Riverkit. Warriors of Starclan, I call upon you to look down upon the body of this kit. May you receive her as a full warrior, as Riverstorm." He finished, and Endlessheart woke up next to the Moon-Pond.

Ivymist was already awake, and Greenpaw was stirring. "Do not tell anyone about what you dreamed about, until you have an idea of what it means, and then tell me or Twilightstar." Ivymist said, already walking out of the cave.


	13. Chapter 13

"Echopaw, wake up!" Ever since Treepaw had gone to Ivymist's den, she had been woken up by Whitepaw. "I don't feel very well." Echopaw complained, and she wasn't lying. "Then go see Ivymist." Whitepaw said. Echopaw didn't feel like responding again, so she just walked out of the den and to Ivymist's.

When she got there, Ivymist was waking up Greenpaw and Endlessheart. "Yes, Echopaw?" Ivymist asked. "I don't feel good." She said, then promptly vomited. "Oh, Echopaw. Lay down here." She said, pointing to an empty nest. Echopaw walked over to the nest an curled up.

"Here, Echopaw. Eat this feverfew, poppy seed, and chervil root. It should help you feel better." Ivymist said, laying some herbs next to her. Echopaw ate them, then fell asleep.

When Echopaw woke up, she didn't feel any better. She realized that Endlessheart was in the den, sorting some herbs. "Can I have some water?" She asked. "No. Ivymist told me that you shouldn't eat or drink anything until tomorrow, when your stomach has calmed down." Endlessheart said. "What can I do, than?" Echopaw asked, clearly bored out of her mind. "Well, you can go back to sleep. Tomorrow you and Treepaw can leave." He said, then sighed. I bet he wishes he could leave. I wish he could, too. Echopaw thought with an inward sigh, then curled up and went to sleep.

When Echopaw woke up this time, she felt better. She saw that Treepaw was in the den, snacking on a piece of prey. Then she saw a piece that she automatically assumed was hers. She went up to it and ate it.

"I see both of you found your prey." Endlessheart said through the mouthful of herbs that he had come in with, "You can go train with Twilightstar once you're done." He said as he set down his herbs and started sorting them.

Once they were done, they padded out of the den and found Twilightstar.

"Ah. I see you're both ready to go train, but I want to go hunting. Tomorrow is the gathering, and I don't want Nightclan to insu-" Twilightstar said, interrupted by Treepaw, "With this food shortage, I doubt Nightclan will be able to say much." then Echopaw clasped. "Echopaw!" Twilightstar yelled. Echopaw was shaking uncontrollably.

Once she stopped, she looked perfectly normal. "Instead of hunting, let's practice that sand move." She suggested. "Yeah, that sounds good." Twilightstar said as he lead them out of the clearing and to the Training Sands.

Once they got to the Training Sands, they saw Whitepaw coughing up blood. Jumpingmoon was looking on at the scene. Whitepaw was one of Echopaw's friends, but Treepaw was the one to run off to get a medicine cat. Treepaw walked over to Whitepaw.

"Echopaw, do you know what I should do?" Whitepaw asked between a cough of blood. "Just let the blood come up." Echopaw said, trying not to sound as scared as she was.

Ivymist walked into the clearing, carrying a bundle of leaves, followed by Treepaw, who was carrying some wet moss. Ivymist ran over to Whitepaw, who started breathing in gasps. Ivymist pushed Whitepaw over and started pushing on her chest. More blood came up, then Whitepaw stood up. "No. Lay down until you've eaten these herbs." Ivymist ordered.

Whitepaw ate the herbs, then drank up the water from the moss. "Okay. Whitepaw, you should come back to my den with me so you can get some rest. Twilightstar, based on the fact that there is now a pool of blood, you either can find a different place to train Treepaw and Echopaw, or just come back to camp and call it done for today." Ivymist stated. "I think I'll train them somewhere else for a while, then come back and give the announcement on who will be going to the gathering." He said

It didn't take very long for them to find a clearing very much like the Training Sands. "Okay, now who wants to go first?" Twilightstar asked. "I will." Echopaw answered, padding out to the center of the new place, turned sideways, turned her head away, and kicked up a massive cloud of sand.

"Very good." Twilightstar said, "Now it's your turn, Treepaw." Treepaw and Echopaw traded places. Treepaw turned sideways, Turned his head away, and kicked up a sand cloud of the same size. "Both of you did well. Now I have to go back to camp and decide who will be going to the gathering tomorrow." Twilightstar said, leading them back towards their camp.


	14. Chapter 14

Once Treepaw, Echopaw, and Twilightstar got back to camp, the sun was starting to set. Twilightstar leaped onto the Moonlit-Stone. "Will all cats above the age of six moons gather beneath the Moonlit-Stone for a clan meeting!" Twilightstar yowled.

Once all the cats were gathered, Twilightstar began. "It is time to name the cats who will be going to the gathering tomorrow. Ivymist, Endlessheart, Greenpaw, Treepaw, Whitepaw, Echopaw, Pebblepaw, and all warriors will go to the gathering." Twilightstar said the quick announcement, then the cats walked back to their dens.

"Echopaw, you sleepyhead! You slept right through the meeting!" Treepaw said as he prodded Echopaw in the side. "Okay, Okay. I'm getting up." Echopaw said as she got up and stretched her muscles, then padded out into the camp with Treepaw. "Um, Echopaw. There is something I need to tell you. Treefrost died last night. There was nothing Ivymist could do to help him." Treepaw said. "Oh." Echopaw said, grief thick like mud in her voice. "Twilightstar said we didn't have to do anything today, but I thought you might want to go walk with me. Oh, but first you should go get some chamomile. I already got some." Treepaw said. Echopaw walked off, her tail drooping and her head down.

Once Echopaw got back, she looked a little bit more cheerful. "Come on, Treepaw, let's go to the stream!" Echopaw said, a little bit of her cheerfulness back, "I'll race you!" She said, already running off. "Hey, that's not fair!" Echopaw yelled as he ran after her.

Treepaw enjoyed running through the Earthclan's sandy territory, feeling the wind going through his pelt. Once they got to the forest, however, Echopaw slowed down to a walk. "That was fun." Echopaw said as the stream came into view. I'm glad the old Echopaw is back. I missed it. Treepaw thought

"Look at the stream! It's even more beautiful than when I saw it on my trip around our territory!"Echopaw yelled, bouncing over to the stream. "I'm glad you're cheerful again." Treepaw murmured happily under his breath." But why after Treefrost's death? "Let's go back now. I'm tired." Echopaw said.

Once they were almost back to camp, they found a kit. It wasn't moving, which was a little bit unsettling for Treepaw. The black and white striped kit didn't stir when Treepaw prodded it in the side. "Let's take it back to camp." Treepaw said, grabbing it by the scruff.

Once Echopaw and Treepaw got back to camp, they ran into the medicine cat's den. Echopaw explained to Ivymist what had happened while Treepaw set down the kit, "We found it by a tree. It wasn't moving, so we brought it back to camp."

"Okay. Endlessheart, Greenpaw, over here. Watch." Ivymist said, putting her paw on the kit's chest, then started gently massaging it. "Greenpaw get me some of that cough stuff." Ivymist said, pointing with her tail to a pile of herbs. Greenpaw grabbed it and set it next to Ivymist. She picked out some yarrow and shoved it into the kit's mouth. The kit swallowed it, then promptly started vomiting. When the kit was done, it opened its eyes. It started patting around it.

"Can it... see?" Echopaw asked, cautiously. "I Don't think so. Hello, kit. Walk over to the edge of the den." Ivymist said. The kit didn't do so much as lift a whisker. "Did it hear you?" Treepaw asked.

"I don't know. I hope for its sake it can smell." Ivymist said, "Now, who wants to name it?" Ivymist finished. "I will." Echopaw said, "Just not right now."

Treepaw and Echopaw left the den, and then Echopaw sat down. "You okay?" Treepaw asked. "No." Echopaw said, suddenly sounding grief-stricken as she walked over to the apprentice's den. Treepaw started to follow, but Morningflight stopped him, "This is harder on her than it is for you. It's a lot to deal with, if you know what I mean." Morningflight said. "Yeah, I know. I just wish I could do something." Treepaw replied.

"Will all cats who are going to the gathering gather beneath the Moonlit-Stone for a clan meeting!" Twilightstar yowled. Cats began walking over to the Moonlit-Stone. "Go get your sister." Morningflight said as she walked over to the stone, too.

Once Treepaw got to the den, he walked in. "Echopaw, it's time to go to the gathering." Treepaw said. "I don't want to go." Echopaw said. I guess I'll stay too, then. Treepaw thought. "You sure?" Treepaw asked. Echopaw nodded. "Okay. I'll stay, too. I just have to tell Twilightstar." Treepaw said. "Endlessheart, too." Echopaw said as she curled up and Treepaw left.

"Twilightstar!" Treepaw yowled to get his leader's attention. "Yes, Treepaw?" He answered. "Echopaw wants to stay, and i'm going to stay with her. I'm not sure, but i think she wants Endlessheart to stay, too." Treepaw said. "Okay." Twilightstar said. Treepaw walked off to get Endlessheart.

"Echopaw wants to stay, and i think she wants you to stay, too." Treepaw explained once he found Endlessheart. "Okay. Did Morningflight talk to you? She was supposed to." Endlessheart said. "Yeah." Treepaw said. "Okay. I've been watching Echopaw for a while. I've noticed that this is way more difficult for her than it is for us. I'm not sure how Morningflight didn't know that." Endlessheart said.

Once they got back to the den, Echopaw was sleeping, so Treepaw decided it was okay to ask Endlessheart a sensitive question. "How do you.. er... feel about your name?" Treepaw asked. I should not have asked that. Treepaw thought. "I don't know. I think that Twilightstar was really creative when he said 'and his endless heart.' At the time i wasn't sure what that meant, but now I think if means i should somehow guard Echopaw." Endlessheart said, "Echopaw just really isn't strong enough to deal with all of this." Endlessheart finished, putting his tail on Echopaw, who shifted in her nest. "Blazekit." Echopaw murmured, then curled up again. "Echopaw likes naming cats." Treepaw said. "Maybe she will have kits someday. That is, if she thinks she can handle the constant threat of them somehow dying." Endlessheart answered. "It's always hard when a mother loses her kits. She could also become leader." Treepaw answered. "No, Twilightstar got his nine lives just before we were born, and he's still on his first life." Endlessheart said. Endlessheart and Treepaw sat silently for a few minutes. Echopaw stirred, then sat up. "You guys are awesome." She said. "Blazekit fits." Treepaw said.

The cats who had gone to the gathering were coming back. "Come on, guys. We need to go tell Ivymist." Endlessheart said, getting up.

Once the cats were all gathered in the den, Ivymist asked Echopaw to tell them what she had named the kit. "Blazekit." She said simply. "Okay. We have no cats in the nursery now, which is a serious problem." Ivymist said. "There is a cat in Rainclan who should be in the nursery, but they all died of the same thing i have, just, obviously, worse." Endlessheart said. "How do you know?" Greenpaw piped up. "I just do." Endlessheart said, now looking like he wished he had kept his mouth shut. "Well, let's go now. We have nothing better to be doing." Greenpaw said. "No, Greenpaw. Will go tomorrow, and right now i want all of you to sleep here. I am going to go tell Twilightstar."

"Guys, wake up." Ivymist said, "We are going to go now." "Yes!" Echopaw shouted happily.

Once the cats go to Rainclan's border, they waited for Rainclan dawn patrol, as they had left long before a normal dawn patrol. Sure enough, a Rainclan patrol appeared. "What are you doing by our border?" One of the cats challenged. "We need to speak with Willowstar." Ivymist said. "Oh. Come with us then, we were just finishing our patrol." The cat who had challenged them said, leading them in the direction towards what Treepaw could only guess was Rainclan's camp. "I'm Vinepelt." The cat said.

Once they got to Rainclan's camp, cats started looking at the group with glares that didn't seem very welcoming. "Willowstar! Some Earthclan cats wish to speak with you!" Vinepelt yelled. "Okay. Come, then." Willowstar answered. "Go on, guys. In that cave." Vinepelt said, pointing to a cave.

Once all the cats were in the den, Endlessheart started coughing. "Willowstar, I need feverfew and some wet moss." Ivymist said, then turned to Endlessheart, "Are you okay?" She asked him as Willowstar walked out. Treepaw picked up his fear-scent as he walked away. "Yeah." He said between coughs, "I just don't think Willowstar thinks i will be." He said finished. Once willowstar got back, Ivymist gave it to Endlessheart, who promptly stopped coughing. Treepaw noticed he looked really embarrassed.

"Why are you guys here?" Willowstar asked. "We found a kit on our territory that was blind and death. We have no nursing queens, and we were wondering if you had any." Ivymist said. "We do. One of our queen's kits all died. Dawnsight!" Willowstar yelled as he walked out of the cave.

Willowstar came back with a yellowy-orange she-cat. "Dawnsight, these Earthclan cats need a nursing queen. Please consider going with them." Willowstar asked. "'No warrior may neglect a kit in pain or in danger, even if that kit is from a different clan.' Yes, i will. I will also stay in their clan permanently. Also, this kit is in danger, and it's from a different clan. If i don't help it, it will die." Dawnsight said. "Thank you. You may want to know that this kit is blind and deaf." Ivymist said. "It's a kit. I will always help a kit." Dawnsight said. "Let's go, then." Ivymist said.

Once the cats got back to Earthclan's camp, Greenpaw showed Dawnsight where the nursery was while Ivymist carried Blazekit to the nursery. "Will all cats gather beneath the Moonlit-Stone for a clan meeting!" Twilightstar yowled. Treepaw saw Dawnsight carrying Blazekit out with her, setting it by her paws.

Once all the cats had gathered, Twilightstar began. "Yesterday, Echopaw and Treepaw found a kit, which Echopaw named Blazekit. Dawnsight of Rainclan has come to take care of it, and, as I understand it, be a permanent part of our clan. Also, Treefrost died." Twilightstar said, closing the meeting.

**Blazekit it actually an almost-red cat. Sorry.**


	15. Chapter 15: Three part chapter! Longest!

Echopaw woke up in the middle of the night to a strange sensation in her stomach. Confused, Echopaw got up and walked to Ivymist's den.

Once she got there, she prodded Ivymist in the side. "What, Echopaw?" Ivymist asked. "My stomach feels weird." She said. "Okay, lay down here, then." Ivymist said as Echopaw laid down in the nest. Ivymist started feeling around on her stomach, and her face turned to stone. "Echopaw, you are going to have kits." Ivymist said. NO! I can't! I'm still an apprentice! Echopaw thought. "Should i tell Treepaw and Endlessheart?" Echopaw asked. "Yes. I will tell Twilightstar, and you should tell Morningflight, too. Echopaw, I'm sorry." Ivymist said. Echopaw decided to tell her Littermates and her mother now.

Once Echopaw had gotten Treepaw, Endlessheart, and Morningflight, she led them to a tree away from camp. "Why'd you wake us up this late?" Morningflight asked. "I am.." Echopaw couldn't take it anymore. "Expecting kits? Yes, i know. I was awake during the conversation." Endlessheart said. "It's okay, Echopaw." Morningflight said, putting her tail on Echopaw, "Let's go back to our dens, now." Morningflight said, already beginning to lead the cats back to the camp.

While Echopaw was eating her fresh-kill after the morning meeting, Sunheart walked up to her. "Twilightstar wants to talk to you." She said as she walked by. Echopaw got up and walked over to Twilightstar's den

"Hello, Echopaw." Twilightstar said, instantly alerting her to the wriggling in her stomach. "Hello." Echopaw said, trying to sound more confident than she was. "Ivymist told me. I am fine with it, and even if i wasn't, i wouldn't tell you because it's hard enough already." Twilightstar said.

I AM ABOUT TO SKIP HOWEVER MANY MOONS IT TAKES FOR A CAT TO HAVE KITS. SORRY IF THAT BOTHERS YOU. AND YES, ECHOPAW AND TREEPAW ARE STILL 'PAWS. GET OVER IT.

Echopaw new it was time to have kits. She had been in the nursery for a while. "I'll get Ivymist." Dawnsight said as she walked out of the den. The spasms that were coursing through Echopaw were making her screech. Morningflight ran into the den. Moments later, Dawnsight, Endlessheart, Treepaw, and Ivymist came in, too. The first kit slipped out, and Endlessheart started licking it. The second and third cats slipped out just as easily. Dawnsight pushed them toward Echopaw, who started licking them. Treepaw gave Echopaw some Borage leaves so that her milk would come. Echopaw looked confused, so Ivymist told everybody except Endlessheart and Treepaw to leave. Ivymist left, too.

Endlessheart and Treepaw just stood there, uselessly. Endlessheart was the first to say something. "I think you're supposed to name them, now." Endlessheart said, sounding just as confused as Echopaw.Nightkit Sunkit Cloudkit

Echopaw wasn't feeling particularly creative right now. "The black one is Nightkit, the yellow one is Sunkit, and the white one is Cloudkit." She said, curling them into her stomach, where she fell asleep.

She woke up to being prodded in the side. It was morning, and Sunkit was the cat who was prodding her in the side. His eyes were open. "Hello, Sunkit." Echopaw said. "Wow! You're bigger than i imagined!" Sunkit said, "Who are you?" Sunkit asked. "I'm Echopaw. I'm your mother." Echopaw answered. "When are Nightkit and Cloudkit going to wake up?" Sunkit asked. "They could be awake right now, just their eyes aren't open yet." Echopaw explained to the eager kit. "Well, they should hurry up. I'm bored." Sunkit said. Echopaw scraped a ball of moss out of her den and through it over to the wall. Sunkit ran over to it and accidently hit Dawnsight. "Huh?" She said. "Sorry, Dawnstripe. I forgot that you were still asleep and i gave him a moss ball." Echopaw said, sounding embarrassed. "It's okay, Echopaw." Dawnstripe said. "Can i play with that kit?" Sunkit asked, pointing towards Blazekit. "No. Blazekit is blind and death." Dawnstripe explained. "Oh. Well I hope Nightkit and Cloudkit hurry up and open their eyes." Sunkit said disappointedly. Just then, Twilightstar appeared at the entrance of the den. "I want to talk with Dawnstripe about Blazekit." Twilightstar said, nodding towards the almost-red kit. "Okay." Dawnstripe said. Blazekit stirred, then got up and walked over to Blazekit, tripping a few times on the cracks, then turned around and walked back to Dawnstripe. "If he is blind and death, then it will be hard to follow the third part of the leader code." Twilightstar said, wiggling his tail so Sunkit would play with it. "' All of your clanmates must have a purpose within the clan' yeah, i know that part. Maybe there is some way, though." Dawnstripe said. "How do you know all these random bits of codes?" Echopaw asked. "I know all the parts of all of the codes." Dawnstripe said.

"Defend your clan, even at the cost of your life. You may have friendships with cats from other clans, but your loyalty must remain with your clan, as one day you may meet them in battle, Do not hunt or trespass on other clans territory, Elders and kits must be fed before apprentices and warriors. Unless they have permission, apprentices may not eat until they have hunted and fed the elders, A kit must be at least six moons old to become an apprentice, A cat can not become deputy without having at least mentored one apprentice, The deputy will become the clan leader when the leader dies or retires, After the death of retirement of a deputy, a new deputy must be chosen before moon-high, A gathering of all 4 clans is held at the full moon during a truce that lasts for the night, Boundaries must be checked and marked daily. Challenge all trespassing cats, No warrior may neglect a kit in pain or in danger, even if that kit is from a different clan, The word of the clan leader is the warrior code, An honorable warrior does not need to kill other cats to win his battles, unless they are outside the warrior code or it is necessary for self-defence, A warrior rejects the soft life of a kittypet, and An apprentice can be given a warrior name at any time during their apprenticeship if it is unlikely they'll live that long or will have the strength to become a full warrior are the parts in the warrior code." Dawnstripe recited like she somehow had to prove she knew the entire warrior code.

"Yeah, since some cats left the lake clans, cats have been having less and less of the warrior code memorized." Twilightstar said, "I'll be leaving now." He added as he walked out of the den.

"Wow! The nursery is huge!" Nightkit exclaimed when he opened his eyes. "Yes! Do you want to play with me?" Sunkit asked. "Sure. Let's play that mossball game!" Nightkit said, scurrying over to where the moss ball was. Echopaw sighed and pulled Cloudkit closer to her. Take your time, little one. The world isn't going anywhere. she silently told her only daughter.

Echopaw woke up in Starclan. "Hello, Echopaw." A cat said. Echopaw suddenly realized it was Treefrost. "Treefrost!" She yelled, happily running over to her dead father. "I'm proud of you, Echopaw, but that's not why we're here. Come, we have to go get Twilightstar." Treefrost said. Echopaw followed, watching as Treefrost nudged Twilightstar awake. "Hello, Twilightstar." Treefrost said. "Hello, Treefrost." Twilightstar said. For a new leader, he was very experienced. "We need to get Blazekit now. He can see and hear and speak in Starclan" Treefrost said.

Once all the cats were gathered by a bush in Starclan, Treefrost began talking. "Blazekit, you have a good sense of smell, right?" Treefrost asked. "Yes. I can smell Nightclan's medicine cat putting mouse bile on an elder to get rid of ticks from the nursery." Blazekit said. "Than that is how you are going to give Blazekit a purpose, Twilightstar." Treefrost said.

Echopaw woke up to being prodded in the side. It was Treepaw. "Want to train today?" Treepaw asked. Training! But what about my kits... Echopaw thought. "Sure, but what about them?" Echopaw said, nodding towards her kits, "Cloudkit still hasn't opened her eyes." she added. "We can always wait until tomorrow. Twilightstar said he had something else he could also be doing. Have you seen how strong Whitepaw's gotten? He beat me in a play fight!" Treepaw said, settling down next to Echopaw, then suddenly stood up again. "I'll be back!" He said, running out of the den.

When he came back, Nightkit and Sunkit were awake. "Cloudkit, hurry up!" Nightkit ordered Cloudkit. "Nightkit, that wasn't very nice! Cloudkit will open her eyes when she wants to." Treepaw said for Echopaw as he settled down. "Can we listen to a story?" Sunkit asked. "Sure. What kind of story do you want?" Echopaw asked. "A story about when you guys found Blazekit." Nightkit said. "Okay. Well, Treefrost had died the night before and Treepaw and I were walking back from a race to the stream in our territory, and we found Blazekit by a bush. He wasn't moving, so we picked him up and brought him to Ivymist's den. Ivymist told us to lay him down, so we did. Then she started massaging his stomach, and gave him some yarrow. He vomited up the sickness, then we found out that he was blind and deaf. We didn't have any cats in the nursery, so we went to Rainclan and came back with Dawnsight." Echopaw said. "Cool! Nightkit, let's pretend that you're Nightclan and you're invading and i'm the Earthclan warrior that defeats you." Sunkit said. "Okay." Nightkit said, leaping to attack Sunkit. Sunkit dodged, so he missed and landed on Cloudkit. Cloudkit, without opening her eyes, yowled.

"You need to be a little bit more careful." Echopaw scolded her kit. It's okay, Cloudkit. Take your time. Nightkit and Sunkit are just being kits. Echopaw silently comforted her kit. "Cloudkit still hasn't opened her eyes?" Morningflight said as she walked in. "No. Is that bad?" Echopaw asked. "No. They were only kitted two days ago. You didn't open your eyes until 5 days after you were kitted, and Treepaw and Endlessheart didn't until 7 days after they were kitted." Morningflight said. "They're beautiful, Echopaw." She added, putting her tail on Echopaw. "Yeah. And a pain." Treepaw added. "All kits are a pain. Even Blazekit." Dawnstripe said.

"You're not one to talk, Treepaw." Echopaw told Treepaw. "Yeah, well you were, too!" Treepaw said back, and, for the first time in a quarter moon, Echopaw sat up. Cloudkit wiggled a little bit, then curled up around herself. Sunkit and Nightkit were beginning to look tired. "Sunkit and Nightkit, you can go to sleep." Echopaw said. Sunkit and Nightkit curled up around their sister and fell asleep.

"Well, hello." Twilightstar said as he walked in. "Dawnsight, Blazekit has really good smelling skills." He added. "How do you know?" Dawnsight asked. "Starclan. Now the hard part is going to be training him." Twilightstar said. "You or some other cat could train them to use his smell in Starclan, then he would at least be able to do something." Dawnsight suggested. "It would have to be a Starclan cat. Bye!" Twilightstar said as he ran out of the den. "Or a medicine cat!" Dawnsight yelled after him.

"Echopaw, i need to check that your kits are healthy." Endlessheart said as he walked in. Nightkit and Sunkit woke up. "Cloudkit hasn't opened her eyes yet." Echopaw said. Nightkit and Sunkit looked up at Endlessheart. "Who are you?" Nightkit asked. "I'm Endlessheart, Echopaw's brother and one of the medicine cats in Earthclan." Endlessheart explained to Nightkit. "Those two are okay. I can't check Cloudkit until she opens her eyes." Endlessheart said.

A few hours after Endlessheart left, Echopaw was watching Nightkit and Sunkit play the moss ball game. Nightkit stopped and looked at Cloudkit. "I wish Cloudkit would open her eyes." Nightkit said. "Cloudkit will open her eyes when she is ready." Echopaw said. I just hope she does it soon, I need to get back to training. But she will do it when she is ready, and that's fine with me. Echopaw thought. Since it was late, Echopaw fell asleep.

Echopaw woke up in Starclan. Again? She thought. she sat down and waited for a cat to come. "Hello, Echopaw." A cat said. As it emerged from the bush in front of where Echopaw was sitting, she tried to recognize it, but she couldn't. "Who are you?" She asked. "I'm Starstar. I know that sounds stupid, but it was my parents fault. Oh, and a piece of advice: Never name a kit Starkit. Anyways, you are going to train Blazekit. Oh, and you should note his smelling isn't as good in Starclan, as he has 2 other senses." Starstar said. "Okay." Echopaw said, realizing that Starstar was already walking off. Starstar isn't that dumb of a name. Echopaw thought as she ran to catch up with Starstar.

Once Starstar had brought her to where Blazekit was, she ran off. Echopaw nudged Blazekit awake. "Hello." Blazekit said. "I'm supposed to train you to use your smell instead of sight and hearing." Echopaw said, leading Blazekit to a clearing in Starclan with lots of smells. "Close your eyes and try to distinguish the smells. I guess we should also plug your ears." Echopaw said. Blazekit shoved some moss in his ears, then walked to the center of the clearing. "Over there there is a mouse den, over there there is a patch of yarrow, over there there is a patch of flowers, and there are some rabbits over there, and that is it." Blazekit said. "Good!" Echopaw said.

Echopaw woke up to being nudged in the side. She was surprised to see it was Blazekit, who licked her face, then walked back to Dawnsight. Then she saw that Cloudkit was pushing on her belly. Her eyes still aren't open. Even though three days isn't that much time, she should have her eyes open. No, she will open her eyes when she is ready, and not before then. Echopaw thought as she got up to go get some fresh-kill.

When she got back, Sunkit and Nightkit were awake. She ate her prey, then laid down and brought Cloudkit closer. "Hey! We want milk, too!" Sunkit said. "Then have some." Echopaw said, letting Sunkit and Nightkit eat too. When they were done, they got up and played the moss ball game, while Cloudkit just laid there. Take your time, little Cloudkit. Echopaw thought. Sunkit stopped playing. "I want to go see the camp!" He said impatiently. "You can see the camp when Cloudkit opens her eyes, and not before then." Echopaw said. "Well, hurry up, Cloudkit! You've taken three days to open your eyes!" Nightkit yelled at Cloudkit. "Nightkit! You apologize RIGHT NOW, or we won't go outside." Echopaw yelled. "I'm sorry for telling you to open your eyes." Nightkit said, going back to playing with Sunkit.

CHAPTER 15 1/2

Cloudkit's perspective

I don't want to open my eyes! I'm perfectly happy with them closed! Cloudkit thought. "Hey! You cheated!" Cloudkit heard Sunkit yell. And I don't want to play with them. I want to stay here. "Cloudkit, take your time. The world will still be here." Cloudkit heard Echopaw murmur. Good, because I don't want to open them yet.

CHAPTER 15 AND 3/4

Echopaw's perspective

"Did Cloudkit open her eyes yet?" Morningflight asked as she walked in. It had been 8 days since they had been kitted, and Sunkit and Nightkit were getting restless. "No." Echopaw said. "That's fine. Cloudkit just isn't ready yet." Morningflight said. Sunkit jumped on top of her, and she gave an exaggerated grunt as she fell, then stood up and shook Sunkit off. "Ha!" Morningflight happily yelled at the kit. "You cheated!" Sunkit yelled. "No i didn't." Morningflight said. "I'll open my eyes now, if you really want me to." Cloudkit said. "We wouldn't mind, but you can take your time." Echopaw said. "I know, but I want to." Cloudkit said. "Then do it. We aren't stopping you." Echopaw said. Echopaw watch as Cloudkit opened her eyes. One of them was cloudy, the other was fine. "I can't see out of one eye!" Cloudkit complained. Morningflight walked out of the den and came back a few moments later with Ivymist. "Oh. I see what you mean. It won't go away, but she will be fine." Ivymist said, "Glad you brought my attention to it, though, just in case." Ivymist added, leaving. "Let's go see the camp now!" Sunkit yelled happily. Then he ran out, followed by Nightkit, and Echopaw grabbed Cloudkit and ran out behind them. "Wow! The camp is so big!" Sunkit exclaimed. "Let's play the moss ball game here!" Nightkit said as he looked around. Echopaw noticed that Cloudkit looked confused. "It's scary out here!" She yelled, "I want to go back to the nursery!"

"It's not that bad." Sunkit said. "Yes it is! It's so big!" Cloudkit retorted. I hope Cloudkit is okay. Echopaw thought. "Come on, play the moss ball game with us!" Nightkit yelled as he and Sunkit started a game. Cloudkit just sat there on the ground, shaking. Endlessheart walked over. "That isn't normal, Echopaw. Cloudkit shouldn't be this afraid of the camp." Endlessheart said. Cloudpaw started batting at the patch of grass in front of her. "She just opened her eyes, though. She didn't have time to get used to the nursery's size like Sunkit and Nightkit." Echopaw explained. Cloudkit then started coughing. Endlessheart ran over to Cloudkit, picked her up, and ran into the medicine cat den. Echopaw ran after Endlessheart.

Once they were in the den, Endlessheart gave her some feverfew and she laid down in one of the nests, but she didn't sleep. Instead, she got up and coughed some more.

Ivymist appeared at the den. Ivymist told Cloudkit to lay down, then started feeling her stomach. "Yep. Just as I suspected when i heard that coughing. Echopaw, Cloudkit has the same thing Endlessheart has. "NO! She can't!" Echopaw yowled, collapsing on the ground. "Echopaw, shush. You don't want to scare Cloudkit." Ivymist said, "But I found a herb that might help. It only works on kits, though. Also i only have one leaf of it." Ivymist said as she walked into her herb stores and came back with a herb. Cloudkit ate it, then started coughing up a lot of blood. "I guess that didn't work." Ivymist said, sounding legitimately disappointed as she rubbed her tail on on Cloudkit. "Will i be okay?" Cloudkit asked once she was done coughing. "Yes, but you can't become a warrior. This cough is too bad." Ivymist explained to the kit. "Oh. I guess that means that i get to help cats instead of hurt them! YES!" Seeing Cloudkit so happy made Echopaw feel better. "I want to go play with Sunkit and Nightkit now." Cloudkit said, running out of the den to where Sunkit and NIghtkit were playing.

After a few moments of playing, Cloudkit started coughing. Echopaw ran to get her. "You okay?" Echopaw asked the she-cat. "We're getting tired anyway, so we can go back to the den.

Once the cats were settled in the den, Echopaw curled up around them and fell asleep.

Echopaw woke up in Starclan.

A breeze will echo off the walls of the stars themselves,

Bringing on the battle,

Dusk will be defeated,

But the blaze won't be enough.

The sun will have light the path,

Night and tree will follow,

The heart will reunite them,

But only temporarily,

As the threat of breath persists,

The breeze will find a way,

To block the tunnel that the stars have made,

To prevent the end that seems so near,

Will the breeze find out in time is still a mystery,

Even to the stars themselves.

Dusk will become a threat again,

If the breeze doesn't find out,

That the heart has been seeing deaths in dreams,

The sun will scare away the dusk,

But the end of the clans will still come,

Despite the attempts of the stars themselves.

If the sun scares away the dusk,

After the breeze finds out,

The clans will survive until the end of the stars themselves.

An eerie voice in the background murmured. Echopaw woke up in her nest, confused. What does that mean? Echopaw thought.

SKIPPING TO WHEN NIGHTKIT, SUNKIT, AND CLOUDKIT CAN EAT PREY. JUST DEAL WITH IT. AND NO, CLOUDKIT DOESN'T GET BETTER. (decide what that means for yourself) AND ECHOPAW DOESN'T KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS. STILL. ECHOPAW, TREEPAW, AND ENDLESSHEART ARE 12 MOONS OLD.

"Echopaw, want to train today?" Treepaw asked when he walked over to where Echopaw was laying. "Sure!" She said, jumping up.

Once Echopaw and Treepaw got to the training sands, they had a very vigorous training session. They perfected their sand spray, and learned some hunting techniques. They also learned how to flip of an opponent and pin them at the same time, they also learned how to jump onto an opponent. The last thing they learned was how to free a clan mate of an opponent.

"I thought i would catch you guys up, though i actually got you ahead of Whitepaw" Twilightstar said as they walked back to camp, all of them exhausted. When they got back to camp, they ate a piece of prey, then went to their dens. Echopaw went to the apprentices den.

**Sorry that was so long. Also, after writing this I realized that apprentices can't have kits. They're less than a twoleg-year old (Not that there is a unit of time called 'cat years'), which means they aren'y old enough to have kits. But what's written is written, and I'm not going to fix it. **


	16. Chapter 16

"Echopaw, wake up! We have an assessment today, remember?" Treepaw yelled as he prodded Echopaw in the side. "Oh yeah! Let's go!" Echopaw yelled, running out of the den with Treepaw. Treepaw heard a coughing coming from the nursery, but Echopaw was already running over to the nursery. She came back a few moments later. "Cloudkit is fine." Echopaw said.

"Ready to go, guys?" Twilightstar said as he walked towards them. "Yes." Treepaw said.

Once they got to the place where all assessments started, Twilightstar began the rules, "Clearly you can't steal each other's prey. I will be secretly following you both. This is a hunting assessment, you guys are both good enough, at least for this moment, at battling from all that vigorous training we did yesterday. Go." Twilightstar said.

Treepaw ran off and started sniffing. He smelled a sand lizard. He walked up to the whole, and used the stick-paw-in-and-fish-out technique he had learned the day before. He got five sand lizards out of that, which he buried deep in the sand. Then he heard a low growl next to him. Treepaw turned, and saw a huge fox. Before he could do anything, it pounced at him, jaws open. No! Not now! I can't die! Treepaw thought despairingly as he started to claw and whatever he could reach. "HELP!" He yowled. "I'm coming!" He heard a cat yowl. Suddenly, the fox changed his attention from Treepaw to the other cat. Treepaw realized it was Twilightstar. "Jump on top of it!" Twilightstar yowled. Treepaw jumped on top of it, then crawled up to its neck and started slashing furiously at the fox's neck.

The fox collapsed and Treepaw jumped off. Blood was pooling everywhere on the fox. "You okay, Treepaw?" Twilightstar asked. Twilightstar was covered in scratches, which alerted Treepaw to the pain on his shoulder. "Yes." Treepaw said, "Can I get the prey that I found?" He added as he walked over to where he had buried the prey. "Yes, Echopaw already went back to camp, she was worried about Cloudkit." Twilightstar said. Treepaw dug up his prey and grabbed it in his jaws.

Once Treepaw was settled in a nest in the Medicine cats' den, Twilightstar walked in. He had patches of cobwebs all over him. "Cloudkit, Nightkit, and Sunkit are becoming apprentices tomorrow. Echopaw is worried about Cloudkit, because he can't even stand up without coughing." Twilightstar explained. Poor Echopaw. Treepaw thought. "What will happen to Cloudkit?" Treepaw asked. "Ivymist told me that Cloudkit was probably going to die. She didn't tell Echopaw because she didn't want her to get upset. Cloudkit is still becoming an apprentice, but you're going to have to carry her." Twilightstar answered. Treepaw couldn't respond right away. Cloudkit was a very energetic kit, and now she was crippled. "Cloudkit" Treepaw said with the amount of grief in his voice that you would expect from father. Twilightstar walked over to Treepaw and curled up around him, and started licking his fur.. Thank you, Twilightstar. You saved my life. Treepaw thought as he fell asleep.

"Treepaw?" Treepaw woke up to Twilightstar prodding him in the side. "What?" Treepaw said, waking up as he remembered Cloudkit. "I'll call the meeting if you get Cloudkit." Twilightstar said as he walked out of the den.

Once Treepaw left the den, he walked over to the nursery. He was nervous, as any cat would expect him to be.

Once Treepaw got to the nursery, he walked in. Echopaw was awake, licking her kits' fur. She only stayed in the nursery because Dawnsight insisted she did. "Echopaw?" Treepaw asked when he walked in. "Yes?" Echopaw asked as she looked up from licking Sunkit. "I'm supposed to carry Cloudkit." Treepaw said. "Go ahead." Echopaw replied as she went back to her licking. Treepaw picked up Cloudkit, and walked out to the meeting.

"Will all cats above the age of three moons gather beneath the Moonlit-Stone for a clan meeting!" Twilightstar yowled. Treepaw was soon joined by his littermates and Echopaw's other kits.

Once all the cats were gathered, Twilightstar began. "It is time to name some apprentices." Twilightstar began. Yeah, and their mother is an apprentice, too. Treepaw thought. "Sunkit, Nightkit, and Cloudkit, step forward." The three named kits walked forward. "Sunkit, from this day forward, you will be known as Sunpaw. Morningflight will be your mentor. Nightkit, from this day forward you will known as Nightpaw. Streamsight will be your mentor. Cloudkit, from this day forward you will be known Cloudpaw. Treepaw will be your mentor." Twilightstar finished. How can an apprentice be a mentor? Treepaw thought. "What?" Sunheart yelled. "What happened to 'The word of the clan leader is the warrior code'?" Dawnsight asked. Sunheart just looked confused. "Who died and made you deputy?" Sunheart asked. "No-one. You look alive, don't you?" Dawnsight asked, "I just know the warrior code." She finished. "I have some warriors to name, if you don't mind." Twilightstar said. "Windpaw, Wildpaw, Lichenpaw, Swiftpaw, Birdpaw, and Pebblepaw. Because of all the excitement lately, I forgot to make you warriors. Do you all promise to uphold the warrior code to the best of your ability?" Twilightstar asked. "I do" They said. "Then by the powers of Starclan, i give you your warrior names. Windpaw, from this day forward you will be known as Windspirit. Wildpaw, you will be known as Wildheart. Lichenpaw, from this day forward you will be known as Lichenfrost. Swiftpaw, you will be known as Swiftclaw. Birdpaw, you will be known as Birdwing. Pebblepaw, you will be known as Pebblestorm. Starclan honors your patience and loyalty, among other things." Twilightstar said as his clanmates started to yowl the new warriors' name. Among other things? Okay. Treepaw thought.

"Come on, Cloudpaw. Let's go!" Treepaw said, picking up cloudpaw.

Once Treepaw got to the Training Sands, he set down Cloudpaw. Now, how am I supposed train Cloudpaw? Treepaw thought as Twilightstar and Echopaw appeared at the entrance to the Sands, and Sunpaw, Morningflight, Nightpaw, and Streamsight also appeared at the entrance to the clearing. "Cloudpaw, watch. Carefully." Treepaw said to Cloudpaw. "Okay." Cloudpaw said simply.

"You should go show the territory to your apprentices." Twilightstar said.

Once the cats got back to the clearing, they trained for a little bit.

**I KNOW. MASSIVE PARAGRAPH. It isn't that bad, though. I would go bold everything I'm saying to you, but I'm too lazy.**


	17. Chapter 17

Echopaw woke up in a dark place, with no light in it. She could hear cats yelling help, but whenever she tried to reach them, they vanished in a cloud of fog. "A breeze will echo of the walls of the stars themselves." An eerie voice in the background said.

"HELP!" Echopaw yelled as loud as she could. I don't like this place. Claws were clawing at her, and suddenly they started to fade.

Echopaw woke up in her nest in the apprentices' den. Her bedding was sprawled all over the floor. A breeze will echo off the walls of the stars themselves. "You okay?" Treepaw asked. "Yes." Echopaw lied. She didn't want to tell Treepaw what she had dreamed about. "Really?" Treepaw asked. "Yes. Stop asking." Echopaw said with an unintended amount of anger. Oops. Echopaw thought. "Really." Treepaw said like he didn't believe her. "No. I just had a bad dream. I don't want to talk about it, at least until I understand it." Echopaw said.

Ivymist appeared at the entrance. "Hello, Treepaw and Echopaw." Ivymist said. "Hello." Echopaw said. "How am I supposed to train Cloudpaw?" Treepaw suddenly asked. "I came up with some exercises that should, though slowly, open up Cloudpaw's lungs. Not all the way." She added as Echopaw started to look hopeful. Ivymist sighed, then looked from Echopaw to Cloudpaw and then back again. Get on with it. Echopaw thought. "Cloudpaw can't become a full warrior." Ivymist said. No! Not happy, energetic Cloudpaw! Echopaw thought. "She was sick from when she was kitted. The clouds that are in her eye are only part of it." Ivymist said. (Not a real disease. Don't you dare google/bing/ or otherwise it.) "Wha-? No! Not Cloudpaw!" Echopaw ran out of the den, through the rocks that guarded the camp, and up to that ledge.

Cloudpaw, Starclan, why Cloudpaw? Echopaw thought. She could hear the pawsteps of a cat, not caring who it was. Echopaw just stared off into the distance. "Echopaw?" Echopaw heard a cat say. She looked over and saw Ivymist. Echopaw couldn't hold it in any longer. "You let Cloudpaw get sick, didn't you? DIDN'T YOU?" Echopaw asked, anger coursing through her body. "No, Echopaw, I didn't realize it wa-" Ivymist was cut off by Echopaw. "I'm sorry." Echopaw said, laying back down and looking of the edge. Ivymist layed down next to her and put her tail on her back. "Echopaw, how could I possibly make Cloudpaw sick if she was sick from birth. Notice how i'm not your kin." Ivymist said. "Cloudpaw didn't open her eyes because she was too sick to for at least 5 days." Ivymist added. Echopaw just sat there, thinking about what Ivymist had said. Sick from birth. Does that make it my fault? No. "Cloudpaw will always be this sick, Echopaw. Well, it might get worse." Ivymist said.

Echopaw heard a cat running. It was Twilightstar. "Cloudclan is attacking! I'll explain later!" Twilightstar said as he turned around and ran back down. "Hurry!" Ivymist said, as she too ran off. Echopaw followed them.

The battle was filled with screeching cats. Echopaw saw that Nightpaw was being attacked. As she ran over to him, she thought Were severely outnumbered. She jumped onto the Cloudclan cat's back, clawing at it. The cat stopped attacking Nightpaw and started trying to attack Echopaw. Suddenly, Echopaw felt a huge weight against one side, knocking her off. She quickly jumped up, but she felt a pain on her (Well, where it would be, anyway) forehead. "You okay?" Nightpaw asked. "No." She said as she tried to get up, succeeded for a second, then fell down again. In a few seconds she got up again. She saw a cat and ran over to it, using the Jump-On-Top-Technique. This time, however, she felt heavy weights on both sides, and she heard a crack. She fell to the ground, darkness clouding her eyes.

Echopaw woke up to cats talking. She tried to move, but it hurt. "Wha happa?" She said, because her mouth hurt. "Two cats crashed into you. Does your jaw hurt?" Endlessheart asked. "Yes." She said. Endlessheart walked into the herb stores and came back with a herb. "Eat." He ordered. Echopaw ate the herb. "Cloudpaw might become a medicine cat." Endlessheart said as he stabbed Echopaw in the back. "Ow! That hurt!" Echopaw said. "Good." Endlessheart said dryly. "Really?" Echopaw asked. It took Endlessheart a second to get the message. "Yes. Twilightstar's idea." He said as he stabbed Echopaw again. "Ouch! Why are you doing that!" Echopaw yelled. "Nightpaw said he heard a crack." Endlessheart said as he stabbed her again, "And i was just checking to make sure your back wasn't broken." Endlessheart finished as he stabbed Echopaw again. Endlessheart stabbed Echopaw again, but this time she didn't even wince. "Did I stab you?" Endlessheart asked. "How.. No?" She said. "I did." Endlessheart said. He started coughing. "Feverfew." He said, half to himself as he walked into the herb stores.

"Is my back broken?" Echopaw asked. "I don't know yet." Endlessheart said as he ran his paw along her back.

**My brother told me to add more cliffies, so this was my attemp to do that. Tell me if i did a good job.**


	18. Chapter 18

Endlessheart found where the spine didn't feel normal. "I don't know what to do now, so I'm going to go get Ivymist." Endlessheart said as he walked out of the den to find Ivymist.

He found Ivymist next to a stump on the edge of the camp. "I don't know what to do next." He said, trying to keep the worry out of his voice. "Okay." Ivymist said, leading him back to the den.

Once they got back to the nest, Echopaw was asleep. Endlessheart walked over to her and gently woke her up. "Wha?" She said. "She hurt her jaw." Endlessheart explained. Ivymist walked over to Echopaw and rubbed her tail along her back. "Stick." She ordered Endlessheart. He walked over to where a pile of sticks was, grabbed one, and brought it over to Ivymist. "Hold this in your jaw. This might hurt" Ivymist said. She pulled on one part of Echopaw's spine and pushed on the other. There was loud crack, and the stick splintered. "Ow." Echopaw said. The expression on her face showed that it still hurt.

Ivymist's expression changed, too. "What Happened?" Endlessheart asked, straining with the effort of keeping worry out of his voice. Echopaw closed her eyes for a second, then opened them. Ivymist didn't respond, she just stood there, uselessly. Eventually Ivymist walked out of the den. Endlessheart stood there for a few seconds, then mumbled "I'll be back." as he left the den. I have to find Ivymist! He thought as he ran after her scent trail.

He found Ivymist laying under a rock. "Why did you leave the den?" He asked. When Ivymist didn't respond, he sat down next to her. Please let Echopaw be okay! He begged. "Will Echopaw be okay?" He finally asked. "No.. well.. yes?" Ivymist said like it was a question that Endlessheart knew the answer to. Sulking never does any cat any good! Endlessheart thought. "Okay, do you THINK Echopaw will be okay?" Endlessheart asked. Ivymist just sat there. "No... well, I..." Ivymist trailed off. "Ivymist, sitting here isn't doing anything for anyone." Endlessheart said. Ivymist sighed. "I'm worried that I might have made it worse. But you're right, Endlessheart. What am I doing while sitting here? Sitting worrying about things that I know how to fix." Ivymist said, standing up.

Once they got back to camp, Echopaw was moaning. "Sit. You're getting in the way." Ivymist said to Endlessheart who promptly walked over to his nest and sat. "Poppy seed."Ivymist muttered, walking over to the herb gave the poppy seed to Echopaw, who ate it. "This might hurt." Ivymist said as she started doing the stab-test that Endlessheart had done. She was carefully checking to make sure that Echopaw winced. Once Ivymist got to the same point Endlessheart had, she didn't wince. Same as she continued down the rest of the spine. "Bend your back leg." Ivymist ordered. "I can't!" Echopaw moaned. "Lay." She ordered Echopaw as she walked out of the den. Echopaw laid down.

Ivymist came back a few minutes later with some sticks, cobwebs, wet moss, and some vines. She started attaching them in random places. When she was done, Echopaw looked like a tree.

"Echopaw, get up." Ivymist ordered Echopaw. Echopaw just looked at Ivymist like she was a fox. Ivymist pointed to a vine "Pull." She said simply. Echopaw still looked confused for a few seconds, then grabbed the vine and pulled on it, and her back legs were pulled into the air. Endlessheart couldn't help but laugh. "What's so funny?" Echopaw asked as she pushed up on her front legs, so she was standing straight. "Nothing." Endlessheart said, then turned to Ivymist, "Where did you come up with that?" He asked. "Moonface." Ivymist said simply. "Who's Moonface?" Endlessheart asked. "The medicine cat before me." Ivymist said simply. She's hiding something from me! Endlessheart thought.

"How am I supposed to use this... er... thing?" Echopaw asked. "Do NOT call it a 'thing'!" Ivymist yelled furiously as she stormed out of the den. "What's she so worked up about?" Echopaw asked.

"I have no idea. Just all of our family is crippling before her eyes." Endlessheart said.

"I am NOT crippled!" Echopaw yelled.

"And Hedgehogs fly!" Endlessheart said.

"I'm not the only one!" Echopaw said as she gave Endlessheart a fake stern glance.

"I'm going to go find Ivymist." Endlessheart said as he walked out of the den.

**After I upload this entire story, I will upload the new warrior code.**


	19. Chapter 19

Ivymist settled under the rock she had been to just earlier that day. Ignorant apprentice! Ivymist thought furiously.

Endlessheart appeared. Great. Just great. Ivymist thought as Endlessheart settled down next to her. "What did you do that for?" Endlessheart asked. "Drop it." Ivymist ordered. "What's the big deal with that..." Endlessheart trailed off. "Device, as twolegs call it. And I said drop it." Ivymist said, struggling to keep herself under control. "I'm not dropping it." Endlessheart said. Ivymist sighed. "I don't want to talk about it right now." Ivymist said, trying a different approach. "What does that thing have to do with Moonface?" Endlessheart asked. Oh, aren't you clever. Ivymist thought angrily. "Nothing, okay? I said I don't want to talk about it." Ivymist said. It has nothing to do with you. Ivymist thought. "Ivymist. You do realize that you're being a mouse-brain." Endlessheart said.

"I wasn't going to tell you, but I guess now I'm going to have to." Ivymist said, then sighed. "Moonface was the medicine cat before me." Ivymist said. "I know. You said that already." Endlessheart said impatiently. "He was like Echopaw. He had the same DEVICE that Echopaw has. It was what kept him from having to give up being a medicine cat, and is what will keep Echopaw a warrior." Then Ivymist sighed, then went on, "One day Nightclan attacked. They got into the medicine cat den, and killed Moonface." She paused. "Is there more?" Endlessheart asked. "Yes. I might as well finish the story. After that, I stopped believing in Starclan. I thought Starclan would have prevented a death like that. I still don't." Ivymist said. But why? Ivymist thought. Endlessheart looked at her like she had turned into a fox.

"Is Moonface related to you somehow?" Endlessheart asked.

"Yes. He was... er, still is, Twilightstar's brother. My uncle." Ivymist said.

Endlessheart just sat there for a while, silently.

"Why are you a medicine cat?" Endlessheart asked.

"Twilightstar didn't have much time for me. Legit." Ivymist said, pausing. (If i can make up diseases I can make them say words they don't normally.)

"Also, my mom died when I was born, and my brothers and sisters died, too. The only person who did anything to entertain me was Moonface. I spent a lot of time in the medicine cat den. It fascinated me, at the time, since I was a kit, that they had a strong connection with Starclan. Clearly I don't care about that anymore, I just do it because I like healing." Ivymist finished. Starclan! They are 'the cats who decides what happens.' Yeah right! If they existed, they wouldn't have let Moonface die. I have pretend Starclan dreams. I pretend, even to myself, that i believe in Starclan! Destiny? And hedgehogs fly! Ivymist thought.

Then Echopaw appeared. "You guys took a long time, so I came to see what you were doing. "Ivymist, come. Echopaw, go back to camp." Endlessheart ordered.

Endlessheart had led Ivymist to the Moon-Cave. "In." He ordered. "'I will displease Starclan if i have kits'" Ivymist continued mocking the Codes until they got to the Moon-Pond. "Lay." Endlessheart ordered. Ivymist obeyed.

Ivymist woke up in Starclan. Endlessheart was right next to her. "Follow." He ordered as he started walking to where he knew Moonface was. Ivymist smelled his scent before the mini-den even came into sight. What? Ivymist thought as they walked into the den. "Hello." Moonface said simply. "Convince her that Starclan exists." Endlessheart said. Moonface whisked away some leaves, revealing a water-like covering that showed the clans' territory. "Starclan wouldn't have let you die. They can't exist." Ivymist said, almost convincing herself. "Starclan don't have that much control, Ivymist. Watch." Moonface said, poking a face into a leaf, then putting it in Ivymist's nest. "If it's there, then Starclan exists." Moonface said simply. And frogs jump! Oh wait... Ivymist thought.

By the time they got back to camp, there was a spring

in Endlessheart's step. When they got to the den, Ivymist ran over to the nest. There was a leaf there. "What! How?" Ivymist murmured loudly to herself. "What the Dark Forest is going on here?" Echopaw asked. "Nothing." Endlessheart meowed in Ivymist's defense. "Did you figure out how to use that device?" Ivymist asked Echopaw.

"Maybe." Echopaw said.

"Cloudpaw can't become a warrior." Ivymist stated.

"I figured." Echopaw said.

Endlessheart decided it was a good time to ask about Treepaw.

"Why is Treepaw a mentor?" Endlessheart asked.

"The warrior code doesn't say he can't be one." Twilightstar said as he appeared at the entrance to the den. "Oh, Ivypaw, come here." Twilightstar said. Paw? PAW! Did my FATHER really just call me PAW? Ivymist thought furiously to herself. "IvyMIST. And why?" Ivymist asked as she walked over. "Sunheart is coughing." Twilightstar said simply. "Okay, so you walk into MY den and call YOUR OWN DAUGHTER Ivypaw, and expect me to listen to YOU!" Ivymist yelled furiously as she, once again, stormed out of the den. Twilightstar just looked utterly confused.

**SPOILER: Ivymist's attitude right now is responsible for two deaths.**


	20. Chapter 20

"What was that about?" Twilightstar asked.

"I don't know. But that is the third time today she walked out of the den." Endlessheart said.

Twilightstar just looked really sad. "Echopaw looks like Moonface." Twilightstar said, half to himself.

"Would somebody tell me who Moonface is?" Echopaw asked.

"Ivymist's uncle, Twilightstar's brother." Endlessheart explained. "I have to go find Ivymist." Twilightstar said as he started to walk out of the den. Endlessheart stopped him. "Not yet." He said as he guided Twilightstar to a nest, which Twilightstar laid down in.

Greenpaw appeared at the entrance, carrying some herbs, which he promptly set down. "What's going on here?" He asked. "Nothing." All the cats said in unison. I need some chamomile. Twilightstar thought as he got up and walked over to where he knew the chamomile was, grabbed it, and ate it.

Endlessheart got up and walked over to Twilightstar. "I need to talk to you- alone." He whispered so quietly Twilightstar could barely hear him. Twilightstar walked out of the den with Endlessheart.

They arrived at a hollow tree, which they crawled into. There was a thick bush in front of the tree that made it so other cats couldn't see them.

"Have you noticed any strange behaviors in Ivymist?" Endlessheart asked. "No. None I wouldn't expect, anyway." Twilightstar said. "Think." Endlessheart said. "She flinches whenever I say 'Starclan'. It's not a big deal, though." Twilightstar said. Why would Ivymist be behaving strangely? Twilightstar thought. "Yes, it is." Endlessheart said firmly. "It means that she doesn't believe in Starclan." He added. Why? Twilightstar thought. "Really?" Twilightstar asked, not wanting to believe it. "Yes. She told me. She also..." Endlessheart hesitated. "She also what?" Twilightstar demanded. "She also... also..." Endlessheart hesitated again. "She can tell you." Endlessheart said, clearly giving up. That was when Twilightstar's love for Ivymist took over. "Endlessheart, I need to know." Twilightstar said. "She said that you didn't have time for her when she was... younger." Endlessheart said.

"I did. I didn't want to be near her, after Brightleaf died. I was worried she would ask about it, and i didn't want to talk about it. I made it seem like I really didn't have time, because I didn't want to hurt her feelings." Twilightstar confessed, now fully wanting Endlessheart to know.

"Do you know why she doesn't believe in Starclan?" Endlessheart asked.

"No." Twilightstar answered.

"She doesn't believe that Starclan would 'let a cat like Moonface die'" Endlessheart said.

"Moonface!" Twilightstar yelled, suddenly understanding. "Ivymist loved that-" He was cut off by Endlessheart. "Loves" He corrected. "Right. Anyway, she loves that cat. He loved... LOVES that cat more than I ever did." Twilightstar said, struggling to keep his voice from cracking. I love Ivymist. He thought. "I'm going to go get Ivymist." Endlessheart said as he walked out of the den.

Ivymist came back a few moments later with Endlessheart. She settled down in the tree with Endlessheart. "Starclan can't exist. They just can't. Endlessheart told Echopaw to put that leaf there, and that dream was just that: a dream. Starclan wouldn't let Moonface die. Would they?" Ivymist asked, looking down. Twilightstar shifted, and he couldn't find the words for what he wanted to say. Ivymist loves Moonface a lot. But what about me? Twilightstar thought, then started mumbling what he wanted to say. He finally decided on saying what he had thought just louder. "Ivymist loves Moonface a lot. But what about me?" Twilightstar pretended to murmur unexpectedly loudly.

Ivymist looked shocked for a few seconds. "I.. What?" Ivymist said, the confusion in her voice clear.

I have to tell her now. Twilightstar sighed. "Ivymist, I did have time for you when you were a kit." Twilightstar stopped, bracing himself for the outburst, that surprisingly didn't come. Twilightstar continued, "I stayed away from you because I was worried you would ask about when Brightleaf died. And the two unnamed kits." He said, looking up. "Larkkit and Hawkkit." Ivymist corrected. "She had time to name us." She said.

Twilightstar continued. "Yeah. I am a bad father. I didn't care about you." Twilightstar said.

"No. Don't ever say that about yourself again, Twilightstar, or Starclan'll be hearing about it." Ivymist said, then added, "But Starclan already knows, don't they?"

"I thought you didn't believe in Starclan." Twilightstar said.

"I don't. I never will." Ivymist said.

"What if I killed myself?" Twilightstar asked.

"That would be an act of extreme stupidity." Ivymist answered.

"But what if I actually have nine lives?" Twilightstar asked.

"You don't." Ivymist said like it was obvious.

"What if I proved it?" Twilightstar asked.

Ivymist was silent.

"Twilightstar, that-" Endlessheart said.

"Just trust me, okay? Can somebody give me a fatal wound?" Twilightstar asked like it was just something you could request.

Ivymist slashed her father along the side. Pain clouded his senses. He felt himself collapse, and heard a cat yowl "I killed him!". Darkness took over his eyes.

He woke up in Starclan. Fluffstar, the leader before him, was there. "Was that a good thing to do?" He asked, suddenly doubting his judgement. "Was it?" Fluffstar asked. Twilightstar flicked his ears in annoyance. "You know what I meant." Twilightstar said.

Suddenly, Fluffstar's eyes turned red. "The sun will be replaced!" Fluffstar yowled. Suddenly another cat appeared. "You okay?" The new cat asked as Fluffstar's eyes turned normal. "Yes." Fluffstar said, suddenly looking embarrassed. "These random yowlings of prophecies, even ones that don't mean anything, don't matter, or just are plain impossible to interpret, have been happening since she died." The cat explained. "Shush, Cloudnose." Fluffstar said to... Cloudnose? Starclan started fading, and Twilightstar woke up in the tree.

"You're alive!" Ivymist yelled happily.

"I'm alive AGAIN." Twilightstar corrected.

"Starclan doesn't exist. And I have two apprentices, so feel free to tell the clan." Ivymist said.

"Three." Echopaw said as she appeared at the entrance. "I mean Cloudpaw, not me!" Echopaw added as the cats looked at her with surprised glances.

"Four, then. I have to train you for a little bit. That device is hard to use." Ivymist said.

Twilightstar leaped onto the Moonlit-Stone. "Will all cats above the age of three moons gather beneath the Moonlit-Stone for a clan meeting!" Twilightstar yowled.

Once all the cats were gathered, Twilightstar began. "Ivymist has something to tell us." He said, stepping back, signaling for Ivymist to jump up there, and she did.

"I don't believe in Starclan." the cats below gasped, some even looked at her in horror. "But Endlessheart, Greenpaw, and Cloudpaw do. Also, I will temporarily be mentoring Echopaw, so she can learn how to use that device." Ivymist leaped down from the stone.

Twilightstar walked back to the edge of the rock. "Sunheart has died." Twilightstar looked down at his clanmates, suddenly understanding the prophecy that Fluffstar had yowled. "Treepaw will be the new deputy." Twilightstar said. The cats below just looked shocked. Starclan, please don't get mad at me! "But he hasn't mentored an apprentice!" Twilightstar yowled. "Yes he has." Dawnsight said. "It wouldn't matter, since STARCLAN DOESN'T EXIST!" Ivymist said loudly. The gathered cats stared at her. Ivymist stormed out of the camp. Twilightstar leaped down after her. "Bye!" He yelled.

Ivymist stopped by the tree, and went into it. She seemed to be gazing into nowhere. Twilightstar settled himself next to her. "I lost a life." He murmured half to himself, before he started licking Ivymist, who curled up into Twilightstar. "I'm going to stay here." Ivymist announced. "Okay." Twilightstar replied as he fell asleep.

He woke up to Ivymist prodding him in the side. "Is it okay if Starclan exists?" Ivymist asked. "Yes" He replied as he started licking Ivymist again.

Suddenly Treepaw appeared at the entrance. "Hello." Twilightstar said to his deputy. Treepaw looked scared. "Sit down, Treepaw, join us." Twilightstar said. "Picky Choosy" Treepaw said. Twilightstar noticed that he was shaking a little bit. "Treepaw, half of them have forgot I'm your mentor." Twilightstar said, trying to comfort Treepaw. "Code." Treepaw said. "No rule against apprentices mentoring apprentices, and the only two rules involving the appointment of deputies are the fact that it must be chosen by moonhigh, which I didn't break, and that you had to have mentored at least one apprentice, which you have." Treepaw continued to shake. Starclan, help me. This clan is falling apart.

"Apprentice not finish apprenticeship." Treepaw said. He started shaking harder. Twilightstar nudged Ivypaw awake.

"Chamomile or poppy seed. Poppy seed." Ivymist said to herself as she walked out of the den.

"Out of poppy seed." She said when she came back carrying some chamomile, which she gave to Treepaw. Treepaw just pushed it away. "Not hungry." He said. He started shaking harder, then stopped. Twilightstar, recognizing the look on his face, went outside and got a leaf.

He got back just in time. Just as he put the leaf under Treepaw's mouth, he started vomiting.

When he was done vomiting, he started shaking again. "I'm going to go get Morningflight." Ivymist said as she walked out of the den.

Ivymist came back a few minutes later with morningflight, who walked over to where Treepaw was. It seemed like Treepaw didn't even know that she was there.


	21. Chapter 21: Actual longest! yes!

Everything was just a blur. He could barely put together sentences. Treepaw didn't even know he was shaking. Morning? He asked himself. "Morning." He said, almost like a greeting. He heard vague mumblings of "almost dusk" and "mother" and "home." these words barely sounded familiar to Treepaw. he knew he was being carried because blurry colors were whizzing past his eyes. He heard "Starclan" and "Treepaw" and "Okay" He hardly noticed when he was laid down in a nest and a dark shape curled around him. He could hear sounds. He heard "Sick" and "Die" several times. He fell asleep.

He woke up to cats talking outside. He stood up and started shaking, the only thing that still made sense. "Thunderleap""Deputy""Apprentice" were only some of the words he could pick out.

"Treepaw." A voice said.

Treepaw didn't respond. He couldn't process the sound.

The sound repeated.

"Treepaw" Treepaw finally responded. He was now fighting to understand.

"Treepaw, I want to help you." The voice said. Treepaw tried to figure out who it was. Morningflight? Echo... trail? No. Echopaw? Twilightstar? Yes. Treepaw went through the list of names he could remember.

"Twilight help Tree." Treepaw said. It took a lot of effort to put together that sentence. "Yes." The voice said. "Now?" Treepaw asked. "Tree okay. Twilight help Tree with deputy." The voice said. "Tree need help?" Treepaw asked. "Tree need help." Twilight said. "Thanks!" Another voice said. "Echo, shush." Twilight said to the voice. "Who Echo?" Treepaw asked. "Echo tree sister" Twilight said. "Eat." A different voice said. Through the blur of color that he could could see something green. He ate it. "Tree tired" Treepaw said. He laid down in the nest. The black shape curled up around him, and he fell asleep.

When Treepaw woke up this time, the dark shape was gone. Scared, Treepaw got up and started shaking. "Twilight back" Twilight said. Treepaw started shaking harder and harder. Everything was becoming a blur. "Tree!" He heard a cat yowl. Treepaw couldn't stop shaking.

A cat started rubbing his back. Gradually, he started to stop shaking. He curled up into the cat. "Twilight... Star?" Treepaw asked. "Yes, Treepaw." Twilightstar said. "I'm Treepaw?" Treepaw asked. "Yes." Twilightstar said. "Treepaw deputy!" Treepaw said, jumping up. Everything started coming into focus. "Twilightstar!" Treepaw had never been this excited before. Everything's focused! Treepaw thought to himself.

"What happened?" Treepaw finally asked.

"I don't know." Twilightstar answered.

Ivymist walked into the den. She was carrying some herbs, which she started sorting.

Echopaw walked into the den. "I want to show you guys something." She said when she saw Treepaw and Twilightstar. They walked to the training sands with her.

Once they got to the training sands, Treepaw and Twilightstar sat down. Echopaw walked into the center of the clearing. She then went into this epic combination of claws, teeth, and legs. She twisted herself around, doing all sorts of random things. She ended by killing a mouse. Twilightstar stood up. Treepaw threw up. "Wow!" Twilightstar said. There was a disgusting taste in Treepaw's mouth.

"You okay, Treepaw?" Twilightstar asked. Treepaw shook his head as some vomit came out of his mouth. Twilightstar picked up Treepaw. "That was awesome." Treepaw said to Echopaw as Twilightstar carried him away. "Thanks!" Echopaw yelled after him as she started practicing again. She's good at that. Treepaw thought.

Once they got to the den, Twilightstar set Treepaw down in a nest. He walked out to get one of the medicine cats.

Endlessheart walked in, followed by Twilightstar. Treepaw vomited again. "Chervil root and Poppy seed." Endlessheart mewed as he disappeared into the herb stores.

When he got back, he gave the herbs to Treepaw. Treepaw ate them, then vomited. "It might be worse than I thought." Endlessheart said. He rubbed Treepaw's back.

"What's going on here?" Ivymist asked as she appeared at the entrance to the den. "Treepaw won't stop vomiting." Endlessheart explained. "Then he should rest." Treepaw laid down in the nest and fell asleep.

He woke up to Echopaw doing one of her exercises with Cloudpaw. Cloudpaw was trying to strengthen her lungs, so she was running around the den. Echopaw was hanging from a stick at the roof of the den. "Hello." he said. Echopaw dropped down from her stick.

"Hello." She said back, "Watch." She added as she did this thing where you reached over to the other side of a cat and pulled underneath them, flipping them over. "That's awesome!" Treepaw exclaimed. "I know." Echopaw said, jumping back onto her stick. "Is that fun?" Treepaw asked.

"Yes." Echopaw answered. Echopaw started pulling herself up and down.

After a while, Echopaw jumped down. "Bye, Cloudpaw." She said as she walked out of the den. Treepaw followed her.

Echopaw led them to Twilightstar's den. "Twilightstar? Can we come in?" Echopaw asked. "Sure." Twilightstar said. They walked in. They sat down across from Twilightstar. Treepaw started shaking again. "NO!" he yelled, half to himself, and half so they would know he wanted to stop. "Ivymist said we could train now." Echopaw said. "I'm worried about Ivymist." Twilightstar said sadly. "NO SAD!" Treepaw yowled, shaking furiously. "Me too." Echopaw said. Twilightstar got up and led them to the Training sands.

"Let's see that pull around move that we practiced yesterday." Twilightstar said. Echopaw went first. She did the move perfectly. "Good" Twilightstar said. Treepaw went next. He did the move almost perfectly, but he didn't jump high enough. "You have to remember to jump high enough." Twilightstar mewed. He walked to the center of the clearing and demonstrated the move.

Treepaw did the move, this time he also did it perfectly.

RUNNING OUT OF IDEAS. RUSHED STORY AHEAD. I AM ALSO AWARE OF THE LACK OF DEVELOPMENT IN THESE CHARACTeRS.

WAIT UNTIL MY NEXT FANFIC.

When they got back to camp, Echopaw walked over to Ivymist. they started talking. "Want to eat with me?" Twilightstar asked. Treepaw nodded.

They sat down in a hollow stump at the edge of the camp. They ate the prey that they had each brought. They sat there quietly for a minute. Treepaw was bored, so he started attacking Twilightstar's paw. "Hey!" Twilightstar said, using his other paw to bat away his paws.

Thunderleap walked over to them. "So, I guess he's deputy again? That's against the warrior code!" He said angrily when he got close enough to them. "No It's not. He's had an apprentice. It doesn't say in the warrior code that apprentices can't have apprentices. It also doesn't say that the deputy had to complete mentoring." Twilightstar mewed.

"It's true." Dawnsight said.

Thunderleap growled, then walked away. "But it probably should" Dawnsight said, then also walked away. Treepaw went back to attacking Twilightstar's paws. Twilightstar batted his paws away. "Also, 'the word of the clan leader is the warrior code'" Twilightstar said silently, almost to himself, like he wanted Treepaw to hear but didn't want it to seem like he was talking to him. "Mossball!" Treepaw said suddenly, running over to a mossball and batting it between his paws. It's been so long, mossball. Treepaw thought.

Twilightstar walked over and stole the ball from Treepaw. "Hey!" Treepaw shouted, stealing the ball back.

"So our disciplined leader is playing with a mossball." Thunderleap said as he suddenly appeared. Twilightstar licked his chest fur. "Yeah. It's fun." He said defensively. "Twilightstar has only been a leader for 13 moons!" Ivymist said as she also suddenly appeared. 13 isn't an 'only' Treepaw thought. "But 13 moons is a long time!" Treepaw said. "I had just became a warrior!" Twilightstar said angrily, "And I was one of the most playful apprentices!" He added, flicking his tail. It seemed like Treepaw was the only one who noticed that Twilightstar was getting angry.

"Yes, you were. It took work to get you to practice anything." Stonedust said, suddenly appearing. "Shush!" Twilightstar yowled leaping onto Stonedust. Treepaw noticed that his claws were unsheathed.

"Hey, that's enough of that!" Ivymist said, trying to separate them. "I don't want to treat wounds that never should have been formed!" Twilightstar immediately sheathed his claws. "Sorry." He said. Stonedust just looked hurt. Stonedust walked out of the camp. Twilightstar went up to his den. The other cats went back to their duties. Treepaw went back to playing with the mossball, but it wasn't as fun.

Ivymist walked over to Treepaw. "You should go talk to Twilightstar." She said, then walked away again. Treepaw walked over to Twilightstar's den.

"Can I come in?" Treepaw asked when he got to Twilightstar's den. "Sure." Twilightstar said. Treepaw walked in. Twilightstar was staring at the wall. Treepaw sat down. "I'm a horrible leader. And a horrible father." Twilightstar said. "No, you're not." Treepaw said. I have to convince him he's not! Treepaw thought. "A horrible leader makes kits apprentices, then warriors, before they're ready, or six moons old. A horrible leader disrespects elders. A horrible leader doesn't care about his clanmates. A horrible father KILLS their kits, and doesn't spend any time with them." He looked at Twilightstar. "And don't regret it later. Also, if you were really a horrible leader and father, you wouldn't know it." He added frantically. "I guess you're right." Twilightstar said, standing up. "Thank you, Treepaw. You're a great deputy." He said as he walked out of the den. Treepaw figured he was going to come back, so he continued sitting.

When he got back, he looked much happier. "Thunderleap is going to continue to be a problem, isn't he?" Twilightstar said as he set down. "That furball got in my way about the warrior code twice. Also, you are my first apprentice." Twilightstar said. "Wait. That means that that you-" Treepaw was cut off. "I know what it means." Twilightstar said. "Please don't manipulate the warrior code as much as I did." Twilightstar added. "I won't." Treepaw said. Treestar. That sounds cool. Treepaw thought.

"Let's leave the den now." Twilightstar said, walking out of the den. When they were out of the den, Treepaw ran over to where Echopaw was practicing some moves. Treepaw started to do the moves with Echopaw.

They didn't know it, but Twilightstar was watching. (decide what that means, then read. or else.) "Let's practice that flip move we worked on." Echopaw said. "Okay." Treepaw said. Treepaw did it on Echopaw first. He put his paw under the side away from him, jumped up, and flipped her and himself over. He landed on his paws, she didn't.

"Ah, so it's the code-disobeyer clan." Thunderleap said as he suddenly appeared. Ivymist walked over. "And look who's come to save them. The No-starclan medicine cat." He added. Ivymist leaped onto him, and started clawing at him.

"Ivymist, stop!" Twilightstar yelled. Ivymist didn't stop. "You are a disgrace to our clan!" Ivymist spat furiously at Thunderleap. Ivymist jumped off Thunderleap. Blood was pooling at her paws. "I... killed him." Ivymist said finally. Endlessheart silently brought her some chamomile, which she ate. "I KILLED THUNDERLEAP!" She yelled, sounding shocked. The cats who had gathered to watch picked up Thunderleap and brought him to a quiet corner of the camp. Ivymist walked over to him, and started licking up his blood. Echopaw and Treepaw went back to practicing, this time practicing pinning cats, and the defense for it.

"Will all cats above the age of 3 moons gather beneath the Moonlit-Stone for a clan meeting!" Twilightstar yowled across the clearing.

Once all the cats were gathered, Twilightstar began. "It is time Treepaw and Echopaw became warriors. Come forward." He said nodding towards the two apprentices. Treepaw and Echopaw walked forward.

"I, Twilightstar, leader of Earthclan, call upon my warrior ancestors to look down upon these apprentices. They have trained hard to understand the ways of your noble code, and I commend them to you as warriors in their turn. Echopaw and Treepaw, do you promise to to uphold the warrior code, and defend and protect this clan, even at the cost of your life?" Twilightstar asked. "I do." They both said. "Then by the powers of Starclan, I give you your warrior name. Echopaw, from this day forward, you will be known as Echobreeze. Starclan honors your persistence and care for other cats. Treepaw, from this day forward you will be known as Treespirit. Starclan honors your patience and determination when it is needed. We welcome you as full warriors of Earthclan." Twilightstar finished. Treespirit's clanmates yelled his and Echobreeze's new names.

Twilightstar stayed up there. "Also, it is time Blazekit became an apprentice. He has a mentor, just a Starclan one." Ivymist winced noticeably. "From this day forward, until this apprentice has earned his warrior name, he will be known as Blazepaw." Twilightstar said as he leaped down from the Moonlit-Stone. Endlessheart walked over to Treespirit and Echobreeze were still standing. "You guys are warriors!" He exclaimed when he got there. "The apprentice den is empty." He added with a nod towards the den. "Dawnsight is going to have kits. In two moons." He stated the solution.

Twilightstar was talking with Ivymist. Treespirit padded over to eavesdrop. They were talking about Starclan. "So I'm not allowed to miss someone that I spent every day with, basically since I could leave the nursery?" Ivymist asked, flicking her tail. They were behind a bush, so the other cats didn't know they were arguing. "Yes, you are. But I miss him too, Ivymist. I still believe in starclan." Twilightstar said calmly. "You didn't spend every day with him!" Ivymist shouted. "Yes, I did. He knew why I was avoiding you, and was trying to-" He was cut off. "You couldn't even discuss that with your own daughter! That's pathetic!" Ivymist yelled. "He cared about you like I would've. And did. My fear that you would want to talk about it clouded my instincts, okay?" Twilightstar said. Ivymist sighed. "Do I have to believe in Starclan?" She asked. "No, but as a medicine cat..." He trailed off. "Starclan wouldn't let Moonface die, if they existed." Ivymist said, like she fully believed it. "That's where you're wrong. Ivymist, Starclan can't prevent deaths." Twilightstar mewed. "Then how come cats say 'it's in the paws of starclan' if they can't prevent deaths?" Ivymist asked. "Ivymist, why do you think?" Twilightstar asked back. "Because... I don't know." Ivymist said. "To make it easier to whoever they are telling that to." Twilightstar answered, "I mean, would you rather think that Starclan was 'in charge', or that that there wasn't a cure for it?" Twilightstar asked. "Starclan, but I don't believe in them." Ivymist said. "Ivymist, really. You don't have to believe to respect." Twilightstar said. "Okay." Ivymist said, walking out from behind the bush.

"Treespirit!" Twilightstar yelled once Ivymist was out of earshot. Treespirit walked behind the bush, heart pounding. Mouse-brain! Treespirit scolded himself.

"So you heard our conversation?" Twilightstar asked. Treespirit was surprised to hear no anger in his voice. "Ye- yes." He stammered, still slightly unnerved by Twilightstar calling him. "I could smell you. We were down-wind from you. Did you learn nothing from our training?" Twilightstar asked, a hint of playfulness in his voice. "No.. I mean, yes." Treespirit said, caught off-guard by Twilightstar's playfulness. "Confidence, Treespirit." Twilightstar reminded him as he padded out from behind the bush. Treespirit stood there for a second, still slightly scared by Twilightstar. He shook himself, shaking off the last bits of shock, then also padded out from behind the bush.

He heard a cat coughing. He pelted towards the sound. It was Twilightstar. "Twilightstar!" He yelled. "I'm.. fine." Twilightstar said, gasping for breath. "No, you're not. You need a medicine cat." Treespirit answered. "I'm... really.. fine." Twilightstar said through heaving coughs. Treespirit went to go get one of the four medicine cats.

He found Endlessheart first. "Twilightstar's coughing!" He yelled once he got close enough to Endlessheart. Endlessheart didn't respond, he just ran into the den, and came out with some herbs. Treespirit ran back to Twilightstar.

"I'm.. fine." He gasped. "Leaders." Endlessheart murmured crossly, picking out one of the leaves. "Eat." Endlessheart instructed as he started feeling around where Twilightstar's lungs were as he ate it. "Whitecough." He said, sounding relieved. Twilightstar stood up. "Can I go now?" He asked. "No." Endlessheart said, as firm as Ivymist would have. "You need to come to the den with me." Twilightstar sighed, then followed Endlessheart to the to medicine cat den. Treespirit followed, since he had nothing better to do.

"Twilightstar has Whitecough." Endlessheart announced to Ivymist when they walked in the den. Treespirit noticed Blazepaw was in the den. "Why is Blazepaw here?" Treespirit asked. "He can smell diseases and injuries.." Ivymist stated. Blazepaw turned his nose towards Twilightstar. "See?" Echobreeze said, sounding pleased. "Yes." Treespirit answered as Blazepaw got up and walked over to the stores, and picked out a herb. Then he brought it to Twilightstar. Blazepaw pawed his mouth. "He can also feel where things are." Echobreeze added. "Er... Should I eat it?" Twilightstar asked. "It's tansy." Endlessheart said as if that somehow made a difference to whether or not Twilightstar was going to eat it. "Which helps stop fever." Echobreeze added. "What? I train him, and I'm pretty much here all day!" She defended when all the cats turned to look at her. "I have a fever?" Twilightstar asked. "Yes." Endlessheart said. Twilightstar bent down to eat it.

"You can stay in your den." Ivymist said when Twilightstar was finished eating. "Why can't I-" Twilightstar began, but was cut off. "Because I said so." Ivymist answered. Twilightstar left. Treespirit followed him up until his den.

Twilightstar walked halfway into his den, then stopped. He turned around. "You really have to learn not to be up-wind." Twilightstar said as he continued back into his den. Then why was I made warrior? He bit back the response. "What should I do?" He asked. "You're the deputy, you decide." Twilightstar answered through the vine covering. Right. It's almost dusk, so... Treespirit thought as he padded over to where Sunheart used to assign patrols. Cats started walking over. Remembering what Twilightstar said, he tried not to get intimidated by them looking at him. "Hunting and dusk patrols." Echobreeze breathed in his ear as she walked to join the other cats. "Lichenfrost, Swiftclaw, Birdwing, and Pebblestorm, you can go on a hunting patrol. Morningflight, Windspirit, Wildheart, and Stonedust, you get the border with Cloudclan. Willowbreeze, Tinyclaw, Jumpingmoon and I will get the Rainclan border." Treespirit said. The cats split up into their patrols.

Once Willowbreeze, Tinyclaw, and Jumpingmoon had gathered, Treespirit got slightly overwhelmed. "Are we going today?" Tinyclaw asked. "Yes." Treespirit said. He started walking towards the entrance to the camp.

Once they got to the first border marker, Treespirit started to wish he had put Echobreeze on his patrol, because he had no idea what he was supposed to do. "Haven't you been on a border patrol before?" Jumpingmoon asked. Treespirit had never been on a border patrol before. "No, actually." Treespirit answered. "Then why'd you put yourself on one?" Willowbreeze answered as she marked the rock.

Once they got back to camp, Treespirit was tired. Echobreeze walked up to him. "How was it?" She asked. "Horrible. I had no idea what I was supposed to do." Treespirit answered. "It's just like a normal border patrol." Echobreeze said. "That was my first border patrol." Treespirit replied. "Ok." Echobreeze said as she walked over to the fresh-kill pile.

Treespirit decided to go see Twilightstar. He had nothing better to be doing.

"Twilightstar!" Treespirit yelled through the vines when he got up to the den. "I wanted to talk to you anyway." Twilightstar answered. Treespirit noticed that Twilightstar actually looked like he had Whitecough. "Hello." Treespirit said when he walked in. "Hello." Twilightstar answered. "Um.. you wanted to talk to me." Treespirit reminded. "Oh yeah. Apparently I can't leave this den, so you'll have to do the patrols tomorrow." Twilghtstar said. "I can't do patrols!" Treespirit yelled angrily. "Why not?" Twilightstar replied calmly, which only angered Treespirit more. "Because! I assigned myself to a border patrol. I'd never been on one before!" Treespirit yelled. Twilightstar stood up. "You can do the patrols, Treespirit. Confidence has never been one of your strengths, has it?" Twilightstar replied. Treespirit calmed down. "Wasn't it when I was a kit?" Treespirit asked, confused by what Twilightstar had said. "No, surprisingly. Sometimes I could smell your fear-scent from across the camp!" Twilightstar said. "Then what was I?" Treespirit asked. "Hungry or curious, depending on what you were getting in trouble for." Twilightstar answered. "I was scared of getting in trouble?" Treespirit asked, actually having fun asking Twilightstar these questions. "I assume." Twilightstar answered, then sneezed. "Mouse-brained whitecough." Twilightstar complained. "It's better than what Cloudpaw and Endlessheart have." Treespirit said.

"Hello." Ivymist said through the vines. "Hello." Twilightstar said. Ivymist walked in "What is Treespirit doing here?" Ivymist asked no-one in particular. When neither Treespirit or Twilightstar answered, she she unsheathed her claws and started clawing at the moss. "I wanted him to come here." Twilightstar answered. "Okay, well eat." Ivymist said, pushing some herbs towards him. Twilightstar ate them. "Twilightstar, is it possible that a prophecy can exist without StarClan?" Ivymist asked finally. "I guess it's possible..." Twilightstar replied, though he sounded extremely doubtful. "Thanks." Ivymist said as she walked out of the den.

"That was strange." Treespirit said, then yawned. "You should probably go back to your own den now." Twilightstar said. Treespirit left the den, and padded over to the den.

When he got there, he curled up in his nest and fell asleep.

He woke up to a blade of light shining across his eyes. Stretching, he got up and walked out of the den. He walked over to the fresh kill pile and grabbed a piece of prey and ate it. Then he jumped up onto the Moonlit-Stone then sat down.

Once most of the cats were gathered, he walked over to the part of the stone where Twilightstar's den was. "Should I start now?" He breathed through the vines. "Yes." Twilightstar answered. He walked back out to the edge. "Will all cats above the age of 3 moons gather beneath the Moonlit-Stone for a clan meeting!" Treespirit yelled, trying not to shake. I can do this. He thought encouragingly to himself. Once all the cats were looking up at them, Treespirit started the meeting.

"Since Twilightstar is sick, I am doing the meeting." As he said that, a strange feeling crawled up his pelt. Suddenly, everything started to get blurry. He fell off the rock.

**The charec. devovelopment. doesn't get better in my next book, nor does this story get rushed.**


	22. Chapter 22

The cats started splitting up into patrols on their own. Endlessheart was frozen with shock. He shook himself, then ran over to Treespirit. "Treespirit!" He yelled. Now we're all crippled. Great. Endlessheart thought when Treespirit didn't respond. He looked at Treespirit's chest. It was moving, but barely. "We should probably take him to the medicine cat den." Ivymist said, snapping him out of the trance that he was in. "Yeah." He said.

Ivymist picked up part of Treespirit, nodding at Endlessheart to do the same. Endlessheart picked up the over part in his jaw the same way Ivymist had. They walked to the medicine cat den.

They set him down in the nest next to Echobreeze's. Echobreeze walked into the den. "Is he okay?" She asked as she sat down in her nest. One of the sticks on the device she was wearing cracked. Ivymist grabbed a stick and replaced the one that was cracked with speed that surprised Endlessheart. "I don't think so." Ivymist said as if nothing had happened since Echobreeze had asked the question. Ivymist walked into the stores and came back with a herb that Endlessheart recognized as catmint. "Bring this to Twilightstar, then come back." Ivymist instructed Echobreeze.

Ivymist turned to Endlessheart. "Do you need chamomile?" She asked. "I just saw my brother fall of a rock. Do you think I do?" Endlessheart asked back, slightly annoyed at the question. Ivymist just walked into the stores and came back with chamomile. "Yes." She said as she set down the chamomile in front of Endlessheart. Endlessheart ate it. Ivymist started feeling around where Treespirit's spine was. "His spine is fine." Ivymist mewed. Endlessheart couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Ivymist started feeling his legs. "This leg is broken." She said, using her tail to point to his right-front leg. "Should I get comfrey?" Endlessheart asked. "And some cobwebs." Ivymist answered.

Endlessheart walked into the herb stores, and got the comfrey and cobwebs. He walked back out of the stores and set down the cobwebs and comfrey next to Ivymist. Treespirit's legs moved, and he opened his eyes. "What happened?" He asked. "You fell." Ivymist answered simply. He moved the leg that was broken. "Ow!" He said as he winced in pain. "Yeah, mouse-brain, you broke it." Endlessheart said.

Just then Echobreeze came back into the den. "He broke his leg." Ivymist said as she looked up from bandaging Treespirit's leg. "Great. Let's get all the crippled cats together and save the clans." Echobreeze said. Endlessheart gave her a confused glance, because he was intent on watching Ivymist bandage Treespirit's leg.

"There." Ivymist said after a few moments of intense silence. "Now, what did you mean by 'save the clans'?" Ivymist asked.

THE END

It may not have seemed like it, but I actually planned that to end there. I wanted it to end on a cliffhanger, and that seemed like a perfect one. I didn't want to get into too much detail on the first book. Like I said, the next book will have better character development. My next fanfic probably won't be about EarthClan, though. And Ivymist will probably never get her belief in StarClan back. If she does I don't think be in the next few books in this series anyway. Also, if you have a problem with the second part of Treespirit's name, I mean it in this way: "That person/cat has a lot of spirit." Spirit in Treespirit's name means dedication. But what kind of leader names a cat Treededication. Now THAT just sounds mouse-brained.

~May StarClan light your path, Ursa watch over you, and the Spirit Dogs guide your paws, always~

**Did I say this story didn't get rushed? Oh well...**


End file.
